Role Of IoT In Smart Agriculture

The need to increase farm productivity has become critical due to exponential growth in world population and the depletion of natural resources. In addition, agricultural work has decreased in the majority of the countries. This has reduced the demand for physical labor in the shrinking agricultural workforce, which in turn prompted the introduction of IoT solutions in farming techniques.

What is smart agriculture?

IoT-based smart farming helps farmers to decrease waste and improve production, reduce the number of trips farm vehicles make, and the effective use of resources like water, energy, etc. Smart farming solutions are designed for automating the irrigation system and monitoring the agricultural field with the aid of sensors (light, humidity, temperature, soil content & moisture, crop health, etc.). Farmers can keep an eye on the state of their fields from anywhere. On the basis of this data, they can choose between human and automated solutions for taking the appropriate steps. Farmers can use sensors to start irrigation, for instance, if the soil moisture level drops. Intelligent farming is quite effective.

Impact of Smart Farming

Sensors, control systems, robots, autonomous vehicles, automated hardware, variable rate technologies, motion detectors, button cameras, and wearable gadgets are important components of smart farming solutions. The data retrieved is utilized to monitor personnel productivity, equipment effectiveness, and the overall health of the farm. Planning for better product distribution is made possible by the capacity to predict production output.

Use Cases Of Smart Agriculture

Here are some use cases of IoT in smart agriculture -

Smart Agriculture Drones

Drones are used both on the ground and in the air to improve a variety of agricultural processes, including irrigation, crop monitoring, crop spraying, planting, and soil & field analyses.

Geofencing and livestock tracking

Farmers can use IoT applications to gather information about the location, condition, and health of their cattle. This knowledge lowers labor expenses and aids in the prevention of sickness.

Smart Greenhouse

A smart greenhouse can intelligently monitor and regulate the climate without the need for human involvement.

Predictive analytics for efficiency

Crop prediction is important because it aids the farmer in making decisions about crop production, storage, marketing strategies, and risk management. Data gathered by agricultural sensors is used to forecast the crop's production rate. This data includes variables such as soil, temperature, pressure, rainfall, and humidity. The dashboard or a specially designed mobile application can provide farmers with reliable soil data.

Who are the stakeholders?

Farmers are beginning to understand how the IoT may drive up agricultural production while also being cost-effective. Businesses eager to participate still have plenty of opportunities because the market is continuously growing.

Factors to consider while setting up a smart farm

There are multiple factors that need to be accounted for before setting up an IoT-based smart farm. Here’s a list of some items to consider -

• Upfront costs for setting up sensors, drones, and robots
• Hiring competent field personnel for management and operation
• Connectivity to power so that drones and robots can be operated and charged
• Hardware upkeep costs
• Reliable connectivity access

ConnectedYou’s role for Smart Agriculture

Each farm will need to install its own set of sensors and bots that will capture the data specific to that farm. For such implementation, it is important to have a strong and reliable connectivity architecture in place. This is where ConnectedYou can ensure multi-network connectivity access ensuring always connected operations.

Why ConnectedYou?

Our connectivity solution is universally independent from any connectivity provider. Choose from 40+ pre-integrated connectivity suppliers based on your connectivity requirements across different regions.

We orchestrate the critical components that include - eUICC enabled SIMs/ eSIMs, global IoT/ M2M connectivity, unified monitoring & management, and remote SIM provisioning capabilities into a single solution as a one-stop-shop. Here’s why our product is the best solution for your enterprise - 

• The largest network of 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, LTE-M and NB-IoT networks 
• Connectivity for countries with permanent roaming restrictions
• Transparent Pay-As-You-Go pricing without hidden charges or minimum commitments
• Single contract enabling hassle-free multi-supplier sourcing without lock-ins with any connectivity provider
• Unified platform to manage your IoT/ M2M SIM cards irrespective of the connectivity supplier
• Capability to switch connectivity suppliers remotely without SIM replacement and  without any additional transaction costs
• Central support desk for all connectivity issues

Written by Neha Verma & Parag Mittal @ConnectedYou