IoT allows farmers to monitor field and livestock conditions remotely, cutting labor costs while improving product quality.
IoT solutions for agriculture use data gleaned from farming elements and activities to form insights for big data engineers to interpret at various granularity levels, often through weather stations and greenhouse automation systems.
1. Improved Productivity
Agriculture IoT solutions use sensors to collect information on all aspects of farming, from weather conditions and soil health to crop nutrients and mineral levels, pest presence and chemical applications. Once collected, this data can then be analyzed to provide insights that help farmers make operational decisions regarding planting, watering and harvesting operations.
Monitoring crops 24/7 allows farmers to detect issues before they escalate, helping improve quality and increase yields.
Ros Harvey, CEO of The Yield (a cloud-based microclimate sensing, analytics and prescription platform for agriculture), highlighted awareness as being the main challenge when discussing the benefits of agtech investments among farmers.
2. Increased Profits
Farmer who can monitor crops more precisely and control environmental conditions better can increase yields and quality, ultimately increasing profits and decreasing environmental footprint. IoT-enabled devices may also help minimize pesticide and fertilizer use to further decrease environmental footprint.
IoT in agriculture offers farmers another major benefit – reduced risks. Sensors connected to IoT-based devices can monitor weather conditions and notify farmers when it’s time to plant or harvest their crops, helping avoid costly mistakes that could undermine profits.
However, one of the primary challenges facing growers is awareness. According to Alpha Brown’s survey of 1,600 farmers, most were unfamiliar with Internet of Things technology as its name doesn’t carry much significance for them.
3. Reduced Risks
Utilizing IoT sensors and instruments, farmers can remotely monitor their crops and soil from anywhere, enabling them to identify any potential issues and take timely actions to address them. Crop water monitoring enables timely detection of drought and can trigger irrigation systems when there’s too little moisture – for instance.
Example of smart agriculture includes using robots for harvesting, which can both reduce labor costs and enhance product quality while at the same time reducing environmental impacts through reduced energy usage and avoided fertilizers.
IoT devices can help farmers increase return on investment (ROI), by decreasing operational costs and increasing production. Unfortunately, however, most farmers remain unaware of its full capabilities. Ros Harvey of The Yield (an AI driven microclimate sensing, analytics, and prescription platform for horticulture and agribusiness), informs AgFunderNews that one major challenge facing growers when adopting IoT technologies is that the term doesn’t resonate well.
4. Improved Product Quality
Modern farming requires machinery and equipment that requires human operatorss, however IoT offers solutions that automate these processes, eliminating manual intervention altogether and increasing productivity.
Sensors can monitor soil moisture levels and air quality in greenhouses to help farmers improve plant health while simultaneously minimizing water and energy usage.
As yet, this technology is not widely used or accessible in agriculture. According to a survey by Alpha Brown, awareness remains one of the main challenges associated with IoT in farming. Ros Harvey, CEO of The Yield suggests using language that emphasizes function over technology to ensure growers understand its benefits for their operations and appreciate how IoT can transform operations.
5. Increased Sustainability
Due to an exponential population increase and depletion of finite natural resources, increasing crop yield is increasingly important. IoT technology holds great promise as an innovative means for making agriculture sustainable while having minimal ecological effects.
Agricultural IoT provides farmers with real time information related to dynamic agricultural processes. Furthermore, it reduces risks associated with crop damage; hyperlocal weather sensors connected with IoT enable farms to avoid weather surprises and take preventive steps against damage to their crops.
IoT in agriculture provides numerous advantages, including improved crop productivity, decreased risks and higher profits. Furthermore, the technology enables farmers to enhance their quality of life while reducing use of harmful substances that impact the environment.