This article is part of “Build it: connectivity“A series on better business technology.
The challenges are high for farmers.
Investigations have revealed that they are impatient to save time, reduce costs and judiciously use resources. “To meet the needs of a growing population, we have to make things more effective and increase production,” said David Cappelleri, professor at Purdue University and site director for the Internet of Things for the Carel Agriculture Research Center, or IoT4AG. “One way to do so is to add new technologies to the process.”
Precision agriculture technologies have emerged as a path to follow, with a particular collection of interest around the Internet of Things technology. These IoT systems combine various technology elements to collect, communicate and apply data in real time. The tools include devices equipped with sensors, wireless technologies such as cellular networks and data processing technologies such as automatic learning.
A soil sensor, for example, can detect the necessary conditions for better crops. The gathering of data collected by IoT allows farmers to better manage soil, fertilizers and water and reduce losses.
Cappelleri said that although we are still in the first stages of precision agriculture fueled by IoT, technology has the potential to make a significant difference. Along the way, he added, there will be obstacles, such as expanding connectivity coverage and simplifying the use of this technology.
“Technology is ripe to happen now,” Capelleri told Business Insider. “We have a way to use data, and the key is to show the value to farmers.”
Harvest data: IoT and Pre -CONSISION Agriculture
Precision agriculture is an approach to agriculture that uses data, such as culture health measures, to help producers make more targeted decisions and accelerate their agricultural practices. Although the concept has existed for over 30 years, the progress of IoT allows different technologies to work together to build a better agricultural system.
Cherie Kagan is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the IoT4AG center. Launched in 2020, the US Research Center, funded by the National Science Foundation, brings together professors from different universities, industry professionals and farmers to support the development of IoT technologies of precision agriculture.
Kagan has said that in recent years there has been major progress in terms of material technology, data science and information technology, all of which take care of IoT.
“When starting the center, we realized that this exponential growth meant that the time had come for a very different and very important opportunity for this technology,” said Kagan.
Members of the IoT4AG team develop a biodegradable sheet sensor. With the kind authorization of IoT4ag
Center researchers work on all parts of an IoT system, such as sensors that collect data, the communication network that helps send data and infrastructure – Cloud or Edge Computing – which stores, process and analyzes data.
For example, as part of the IoT4AG, Kagan develops biodegradable sensors for the soil and the leaves. Leaf sensors can measure humidity and temperature levels, and soil sensors can detect essential nutrients such as nitrate, offering a single means of monitoring cultures health and sanded problems on the ground.
Meanwhile, Cappelleri and his team work on the ground and air robots that use sensors to measure culture health and work with IoT sensors in the field, like the genus Kagan develops. For example, if a sensor is buried in the ground, the robot can drive it, read the data and send this information without a cloud platform via a communication system, such as a 5G network.
Cappeleri told Bi that coherent measures, activated by this type of technology, could tell farmers what works and does not work. This could help farmers make decisions “in season, week per week, rather than waiting for next season,” he added.
Increasingly intelligent
When Caro Córdova speaks to farmers in Nebraska of what is most important for them, they are quick to mention time and resources.
Córdova, deputy professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, works in close collaboration with these farmers to improve soil health, which is vital for food production. She works with soil sensors to see how technology compares to traditional ways to analyze the soil in a laboratory.
“The implementation of sensors that monitor properties such as humidity, nutrients and pH helps us monitor the soil in real time and more effectively manage resources,” said Cordova. “We could, for example, minimize the application of fertilizers or reduce the use of water.”
A product on the market is the soil probe developed by Teralytic, an agricultural technology company. It has 26 sensors and can measure various elements, including soil humidity, salinity and the presence of nutrients, with three different soil depths. If more nutrients are necessary in the soil, fertilizers can complete them.
Terralytic probe checks and reports factors such as soil humidity, salinity, temperature and essential nutrients. With the kind permission of Teralytic
The data collected by the sensor is transmitted wirelessly via Lorawan, Tech which sends information by long -range long power radio waves. From there, the data is making their way to the Teralytic Cloud platform, where the company performs analyzes. The results are displayed for the user on an online dashboard with real -time graphics.
“The producers could have a field with a difficulty point, but they lacked understanding what is wrong, because normally you should physically leave soil samples,” Bi Ryan Mansergh told Bi Research and Development in Teralytic.
“This is where IoT really helps, because instead of waiting for the results of this long process, they can now have a really clear image of what’s going on,” he said.
Connect more farmers
Luke James, director of the concessionaire of concessionaire at AG Leader, a precision agricultural company, saw the technology evolve during its almost two decades in the company. He said that the last five years had been particularly transformative.
“He really exploded,” said James. “You see a large part of consumption technology making its way in agriculture. Companies now explain how to take advantage of a large part of this technology and to help producers benefit from it.”
James said farmers appreciated the IoT process due to ideas and ease of use. “You can see what’s going on in real time through the operation,” he added.
AG Leader is developing different AGTECH products, such as Imperture Go 16, a high -resolution touch screen that shows real -time agricultural data. With the kind authorization of chief AG
But he said that some of its customers are in rural areas where cell coverage, such as 5G and other types of connectivity is difficult to access, which limits the AGTECH at their disposal. “We are pushing hard to make our producers connect because this opens up another bunch of offers,” he said.
An article from 2024 published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems The suggested connectivity problems were one of the main factors limiting the adoption of digital agriculture, which includes precision agriculture. A study by the US government’s responsibility office in 2023 revealed that 27% of American farms or ranchs used precision agriculture practices.
Córdova said that if IoT data could be sent in several ways, the amount of data can be moved depends on the network. If 5G is not available, farmers can try to use other communication networks, such as WiFi and Satellite communication.
Córdova said that high costs and a technological learning curve were other obstacles to the adoption of IoT. She added that more data analysis services were also necessary to provide farmers with clear and useful comments.
“These sensors collect data in real time, sometimes every five seconds,” she said. “It is an incredible amount of data, but to be useful, it must be part of a feedback process.”
Kagan said that overcoming these obstacles would require more collaboration between researchers, decision -makers, technology industry and farmers. Precision Agriculture powered by IoT already helps farmers to operate, she said, but other partnerships and good investments could facilitate a more resilient food system.
“Our challenge is to bring together all these technologies in a way that provides solutions,” said Kagan. “It is also very important that these different stakeholders work together. We need comments to each other to really get there.”
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