Automating Agriculture with Sensors

India ranks second on-farm outputs worldwide, and around 42% of India's population is employed in the agriculture sector. A sector that has such a vast impact on the country just depending on climatic conditions and manual farming methods seems a little outdated. With the thriving world population, a change in the system is required now, more than ever. This is why we think sensor systems in the agriculture industry should be used more widely to introduce smart agriculture. 

What Is Smart Agriculture?

There are many ways to introduce technology to agriculture, but when we use IoT in agriculture, it is known as smart agriculture. The usage of sensors to collect environmental and machine metrics to provide them to the farmers to make informed decisions to improve every aspect of their work, be it livestock or crop farming. The ultimate goal is to increase the quality and quantity of the crops while reducing waste and optimizing the use of human labor. 

Why Should We Be Using Sensor Systems in the Agriculture Business Anyway?

One word: data. The most significant advantage that these sensors have is the huge amount of data they can collect. From the weather conditions to the soil quality to the crop's growth process, collecting the relevant data can be a game-changer. No doubt, the farmers know best about the crops and their lands, but sometimes the problems can be hidden and unpredictable, where the sensor system helps. 

These sensors monitor the whole system 24/7 to provide farmers with the necessary data. This helps make informed decisions that will help businesses with better cost management, waste reduction, and water conservation due to overproduction.

The UN projects that the world's population will reach about 9.7 billion by 2050, which will cause global agriculture production to rise by 69% from 2010 to 2050. To meet this growing demand, farmers will have to take the help of IoT solutions that can increase their productivity. IoT is all set to push the future of agriculture to the next level. IoT implementation has already become common for farmers in many countries and will soon become a standard practice in India.

Learn more about how sensors are beneficial to the agriculture industry below.

Climate

As the weather is one of the few parameters not in our control, weather stations are probably the most popular smart agriculture gadgets. Weather stations combined with temperature and humidity sensors play an essential role in smart agriculture to monitor the ambient conditions. These provided measurements can be used to map climatic conditions to choose the suitable crops. Weather can also be forecasted directly by integrating APIs into the sensor system gateway to take preventive measures against undesirable climate conditions. 

Soil

 Another very popular and important kind of sensor is needed to know about the properties of the soil. Various aspects of the soil can be measured by multiple sensors, namely:

1. Optical sensors- These sensors use light to measure soil properties and have been developed to determine clay, organic matter, and moisture content of the soil. 
2. Electrochemical sensors- These sensors provide information about the content of O2, CO2 and other essential gases present along with pH and soil nutrient levels. Sensor electrodes penetrate into the soil to detect specific ions in the soil. Determining essential nutrients can provide the best suitable conditions for the crops to grow. 

          III. Dielectric sensors- These sensors assess the moisture content in the soil. The crops can be better irrigated once we know the moisture in the soil. This leads to better water management. Dielectric sensors can also be used to determine the pH of the soil. 

Pesticide

While pesticides are necessary for keeping the crops pest-free, putting in the right amount is extremely important. Putting an extra amount of pesticides can be harmful to the plants and contaminate the soil and the water. Furthermore, with repeated use of excess pesticides, the insects and bugs can become resistant to them, forcing the farmers to use heavier pesticides. 

Image capturing sensors have proven to be cheap but at the same time a very efficient method of pest detection. Based on the images, the farmers determine the area of the infestation and can take steps to remove them by spraying pesticides in specific locations. 

Gas sensors are another popular way to detect pests. Plants release specific volatile gases when stressed. The chemical compounds released differ for each cause of stress. Hence, the compounds released in the case of a pest attack can be studied beforehand and can be used to identify such attacks. 

Cattle Tracking and Traceability

Just like sensors used for monitoring the soil, some devices can be used to monitor livestock. IoT sensors attached to animals can provide information about their health, well-being, and physical location. GPS satellites are used to determine latitude, longitude, and altitude. Additionally, geofencing is incorporated by the caretakers to keep track of their livestock. It is a location-based service that sends alerts when an animal leaves their designated area. This also reduces the cost of staff required. 

Data collected from all the different sensors are to be then analyzed and visualized to serve other purposes. These data are sent to the IoT Dashboard, which collects the data in real-time and converts them into human-readable form. Data collected in real-time helps farmers to make informed decisions. 

Features of Smart Agriculture

Automatic Irrigation of Soil

With a lack of freshwater, it is essential to use the water provided to us wisely. Putting sensors to detect the moisture in the soil will use the water effectively and result in a better yield of crops. This system consists of a water pump that sprinkles water based on the data provided by the sensor about moisture, temperature, and humidity. It helps in saving water as well. 

Soil Nutrient Data

Soil provides the nutrients required for crop growth. The soil's chemical and physical properties, such as moisture content, temperature, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content, heavily affect the crop's yield. In case of deficiency of these nutrients, the farmers put in fertilizers, and many times they end up putting more or less than required. Hence, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium sensors are used to monitor soil health to put fertilizers whenever needed and in the right amount.

Agricultural Drones

Drones are equipped with sensors and cameras for imaging, mapping, and surveying purposes. There are ground-based and aerial drones. Ground-based drones are bots that survey the field on wheels. On the other hand, aerial drones are flying robots that are either remotely controlled or can fly automatically through software-controlled flight plans. Insights about crop health, irrigation, spraying, planting, soil, and field can be drawn from the data collected from the drones. After the drones survey and collect the data, they are taken to a nearby lab to be analyzed.

Smart Greenhouse 

Greenhouse farming helps enhance the growth of vegetables and fruits. Greenhouses control the environmental parameters through manual intervention. This leads to production loss, energy loss, and more labor costs with less effectiveness. A smart greenhouse that is built with the help of IoT intelligently monitors and controls the climate, eliminating the need for manual intervention. Different sensors are used to measure the environmental parameters, and the environment of the greenhouse is managed accordingly. 

Predictive Analytics

Crop prediction according to the weather, soil requirements, etc., is significant for the farmer to decide plans regarding the production of crops. To predict the production rate of the crop, sensors collect information regarding the soil, temperature, pressure, rainfall, and humidity. All of this data is collected on a dashboard and analyzed for the farmer to decide which crop to produce. 

In conclusion, we would like to say; technology has benefited many sectors in India; it is high time the agriculture business benefits from it too, with the help of the sensor system and smart farming. 

Implementing IoT in the agriculture business can bring an extremely positive change.