Today, agriculture in the United States is an industry with $3 trillion in turnover. At the same time, if about 200 years ago half of the population was employed in this sphere, only 2% of the population has agriculture-oriented work. It happened primarily due to the rapid development of precision agriculture technology. As a result of the automation, farmers transferred farmland management to a handful of people.
The agricultural technology revolution continues. Every year, more and more startups appear that are fighting for the right to offer the most effective methods of growing and increasing yields. However, the emphasis is also on sustainability and environmental care, as resources will still be needed for the future population, which will grow significantly by 2050. In this piece, you’ll find out about the most prominent innovations in agriculture.
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IoT
The Internet of Things brings significant benefits to agriculture, and its use is gradually entering the life of farmers. This technology can connect a vast number of devices that we use to obtain field data. Thus, we can monitor and analyze all processes in the fields, having access to valuable detailed information. This information can be accessed from a computer, tablet, or smartphone, which is incredibly convenient. Due to the scalability of IoT platforms, they can be used both on a small private farm and on a vast agricultural complex.
Farmers can monitor soil moisture, the level of fuel in the tanks of agricultural machinery, control irrigation pumps and receive data on irrigation, and much more. All this data allows improving operational planning and speed up the decision-making process in agriculture. And this is something that we already can do, and the potential for using IoT is much greater.
The advantages of IoT in agriculture are increased control over production, reduced risks of crop loss, collection and analysis of vast amounts of data from fields, monitoring of crop status, and work efficiency. All these opportunities also lead to lower costs and a waste reduction, which is a great benefit.
Drone Mapping
Drones are one of the leading solutions for increasing the productivity of your farm production. The drone market for agriculture is projected to grow to the US $4.8 billion by 2024. The market is growing due to pressure on the global food supply due to population growth. There are many benefits to using drones in agriculture. They increase the farmer’s level of control over all events on the farm and provide valuable data that can be used to maintain crops and increase field productivity.
These benefits include soil analysis, planting, plant spraying, and irrigation. Drones also help in assessing crop health. Field analysis, condition assessment, and monitoring are based on field mapping software. We are not talking about expensive equipment. Drones are an essential tool for monitoring large areas of fields. Farmers can detect problems and respond promptly, without waiting for the end of the season.
Robotics
Agricultural robots are also designed to improve yields. This technology is used in many innovative applications and includes UAVs, autonomous tractors, and more. Robots perform tasks that are difficult for humans to do day in and day out due to their monotony. Technological innovation empowers people to focus on finding solutions to increase their yields. Most robots are used for seeding, harvesting, phenotyping, pruning, spraying, sorting, and packing.
Seeding and collecting applications can significantly increase the speed of the work performed and reduce the amount of waste. Automation does not always work seamlessly. For example, when collecting sweet peppers, a robot must be as accurate as possible and have an advanced vision for which the dust, temperature fluctuations, and movement from the wind won’t be an obstacle.
Individual robots can monitor the condition and development of crops and analyze the nitrogen content in the soil. If the robot detects the lack of nitrogen in the ground, it calculates the required dose and fertilizes the soil. This approach helps, for example, to increase the yield of corn.
Electrical Conductivity Sensing
Measuring the Electrical Conductivity capacity of soils promises to become an integral part of precision irrigation programs in the future. It can become a reliable way to optimize water usage on farms. It’s possible to combine the data output of EC products currently available with and with soil moisture and pH data.
Such a system has become practical, for example, for the Zabal Vineyards in the state of California. Controllers in these vineyards use sensors to adapt the irrigation schedule to each wine blocks’ soil type.
In such a way, the farmers can stay informed and make effective decisions on irrigation. Using the obtained data, you can significantly improve the irrigation system and create the most suitable and productive schedule.
