Smart Agriculture Techniques
The year 2020, has hit us very hard. Almost every business sector is getting hampered due to the major unexpected breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic. While people are still solving and identifying the way out, the only industry which is not hit and remains to be the most important industry across each country in the world is Agriculture. But, this pandemic has also highlighted some glitches in Agro-Industry, such as its discontinuity when it comes to supply chain management.
So, it should be the priority of all Agro Visionaries to spot loopholes in the system and work out Smart Farming solutions. It has been seen that smart agriculture technology, the internet, and agriculture, when combined, can do miracles. So, it has become the global need to promote the use of smart farming techniques.
We searched through different tech-trends in agriculture and found that the following Smart Farming techniques can be useful to drive Agro-Growth:
IoT based smart agriculture: A New Dawn
Agriculture is all about years of research, experience, and effort. There are numerous factors to be considered, such as quality of soil, changing weather conditions, type of crops, fertilizers, and growth boosters used accordingly. And this can only be gathered with years of experience. So, if you see in a broader aspect, agriculture is all about gathering data, processing it, and using its outputs for further improvement.
IoT-based smart agriculture can play a crucial role when it comes to data. Right from variations in soil quality to predicting weather conditions ahead of time, it can be Agro-Savior. If we are thinking to introduce automation and robotics in Agro-Industry then implementing IoT is the first initial step towards it.
Automation and Robotics:
Human Labor has become a big issue this time, with rising the COVID-19 pandemic. Even e-retail stores or e-commerce stores are implementing their No-Contact Delivery programs. So, to avoid direct human interaction in the agro-process, people are starting to automate and robotize the work that was done by human laborers. We have seen how AgBots (Agriculture Robots) playing a game-changing role in the concept of smart farming. We are sure; these changed conditions will create a whole new wave of smart equipment.
Drone Technology:
With the rise in the need for contactless operations, Drones and Drone-based equipment will be very useful and productive in the Smart Agriculture sector. With mile-long farms, we have seen choppers doing some works like irrigation or fertilization, but Drones are real game-changers.
There are three major areas where Drones can work, which are Planting, Irrigation, and Analytics. Usage of drones is proved to be highly cost-effective, as it saves nearly 85% of the cost. It can scan soil, plants, or even leaves of the plants and take required action accordingly. Hence, water usage, spraying usage, and time can be minimized with the use of drones.
End To End Supply Chain Management:
SCM (Supply Chain Management) has changed drastically over the last few years. If we think of Smart Agriculture systems, they can change the entire process of action when implemented correctly, including the consideration and details about input financing. Right from, choosing the best of the seeds to reaching the products to the preferred marketplace, SCM can be a true reliever and rescuer from man-made hindrances.
If farmers are equipped with the necessary mobility and infrastructure, SCM is easy to implement. Smart Marketplaces is an innovation in the Smart Farming saga. It enables you to supply your products to only those marketplaces where they are highly required. This technique increases efficiency and lowers time consumption and other losses.
We think it is a transitional time for the Smart Agriculture industry. It’s time to upgrade and enhance. And the only correct way to progress is enabling Smart Farming techniques in actual day-to-day farming processes.
