The Internet of Things (IoT) is gradually making its way into every industry and area of our daily lives, thanks to the immense ability of these interconnected technologies to streamline so many daily activities. In this article, we will focus on one particular area of IoT solutions, specifically the use of IoT in agriculture, the possible capabilities of such systems, and the role they are already playing in the agricultural industry.
Smart Agriculture Market Overview
Today, the term “smart farming” is used to describe the concept of farm management involving emerging technologies such as IoT, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and drones. It aims to improve the efficiency of farm operations, enhance product quality, increase product quantity, and optimize farm staff.
In 2021, the global smart agriculture market size was USD 14.65 billion. According to expert forecasts, this figure is likely to rise to USD 66 billion by 2030, which means that the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 18% during the period 2022-2030.
It is estimated that the number of IoT devices in use for agriculture could reach 225 million by 2024, which indicates tremendous growth over the past 10 years; in 2014, the number was only 13 million.
Internet of Things in Agriculture
Let’s take a look at how IoT is transforming agriculture and what benefits are available to farmers using IoT solutions in agriculture.
To begin with, it is crucial to understand the key components of a smart farming system and their functions.
Smart Sensors: there are many types of sensors available in the market today. There are tools that can be used to estimate the state of the soil and important factors, detect signs of pests and diseases, estimate humidity and temperature, and monitor lighting conditions.
Connectivity hardware: these components are designed to ensure a reliable connection between IoT devices via cellular technology or WiFi. This hardware helps users maintain access to collected data and real-time metrics, even remotely.
Software: software solutions help to transmit, process, accumulate and organize the data received from the sensors.
Geolocation module: using IoT in agriculture, it is crucial to monitor the real-time location of objects. Often, developers use GPS tracking for this purpose.
Data analysis tools: such services help users to process the large (and growing) amount of data sent by connected devices. As you know, the main task is not only to collect data, but also to find the right way to process it in order to get useful insights from it.
Robotics: modern agriculture relies heavily on a wide range of equipment and machinery and, thanks to cutting-edge technology, it is possible to apply them more efficiently. Examples include automated tractors and automated handling facilities.
Although the use of IoT in agriculture is relatively new, it is a growing trend. These technologies are revolutionizing the industry and can significantly reshape its future. Let’s take a look at some of the most important benefits of IoT in agriculture .
Increased farm efficiency through enhanced data collection
One of the problems with traditional farming is the lack of adequate process visibility and data analytics. With smart devices that can collect data in real time, farmers can better understand the ongoing state of things and gather information about changes in weather, crop and soil conditions. All of this helps to make more informed decisions.
Resource Optimization
With IoT solutions (and IoT-dependent precision agriculture), accurate data collected by numerous sensors placed in the field can be accessed for better resource planning and allocation. This also helps to avoid unnecessary expenses and reduce waste.
Improved production control
Monitoring systems are used to control all steps throughout the crop production process. With the most relevant data, farmers can react almost immediately to changes in air quality, temperature and humidity.
IoT in Agriculture
To better understand the impact of IoT technologies in agriculture, consider some of the most popular applications of these technologies. Here are some examples of the most widely used IoT in agriculture .
Precision Agriculture
Precision agriculture is probably one of the most well-known IoT applications in agriculture. This concept combines all the smart farming methods, approaches and tools designed to make the entire process of agriculture more accurate and controllable. Smart agriculture applications include real-time field observation, vehicle tracking, livestock and crop monitoring, and inventory management. The goal of precision agriculture applications and methods is to help farmers improve the quality of their data analytics so they can make faster and better decisions.
Agricultural Drones
The use of drones in agriculture is one of the most promising technology trends today. These IoT devices are well-equipped to collect agricultural data for performing crop monitoring, plant counts, and irrigation schedules. In addition, drones have great potential for the development of precision agriculture for more complex tasks, such as spraying to combat pests and diseases. While it’s too early to talk about the mass adoption of these solutions, it’s clear that this will change in the future.
Climate condition monitoring
As you know, climate and weather conditions play a crucial role in crop production. Moreover, different crops require different growing conditions. When farmers don’t pay enough attention to these differences, the quality and quantity of their products suffer. It is important to track real-time weather conditions and react quickly to threats to save crops. IoT-based smart farming involves placing sensors in the field to collect data related to environmental conditions: humidity, temperature, rainfall, etc. Thanks to this data, farmers can initially choose the right crops and methods. Some IoT sensors can send alerts in anticipation of any serious change in the weather .
Smart greenhouses
Thanks to the greenhouse effect and manual control of environmental factors, farmers can significantly increase the yield of many fruits and vegetables. However, manually controlling all the necessary parameters can be quite challenging. This is where automation comes in handy. Smart greenhouse systems can continuously monitor and control various factors (e.g. air humidity, lighting or temperature) without manual intervention. To accomplish this, various sensors can be placed directly in the greenhouse and real-time data can be sent to a cloud server with the help of IoT technology. The cloud platform then processes the data remotely and applies the necessary operations directly in the greenhouse.
Livestock monitoring
In addition to modern IoT applications in agriculture, there are systems that help take care of the well-being and health of livestock. IoT-based smart systems can be used to track the location of cattle, monitor the condition of corrals, and identify sick animals to curb the spread of disease. Thanks to smart devices, farmers can significantly reduce labor costs.
Conclusión
As you can see, IoT technology has been widely used to improve agricultural efficiency and enable farmers to increase the quality and quantity of their products. Of course, IoT-powered solutions for precision farming and other smart agriculture programs require some investment, but considering the benefits they can bring, the ROI in these cases is quite high and can significantly improve farm profitability.