The art and science of cultivating the soil on Earth, growing crops and raising livestock are defined as agriculture. It also included the preparation of the plant and animal products to be used by the general public and distribution to the markets.
Being a farmer in the modern era is both a privilege and a curse at the same time; climate change plays a major role in growing the curse.
As years went by, technology grew and along with it appeared a new wave of farmers, ones trying to incorporate technology into rudimentary farming practices. Result: Smart farming.
Smart farming or agriculture is an emerging concept that refers to running farms with the help of technologies like IoT, robotics, drones and AI. It helps improve the quantity and quality of products while being able to optimize the human labour required on the ground.
The Internet of Things (IoT) not only provides solutions to the most time-consuming and tedious tasks but has the potential to change the way we think about agriculture. The inclusion of IoT allows farmers to drastically improve their efficiency even when the climate gives way to its erratic behaviour as seen around the world now. Some of the common improvements we have witnessed in today’s farming techniques are the addition of the:
- Sensors: to monitor and manage soil, water, light, humidity, & temperature
- Softwares: specialized solutions that target specific farm types or applications
- Connectivity: could use either cellular or Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN)
- Location: GPS or satellite imaging
- Robotics: incorporating autonomous tractors, drones & processing facilities
- Data Analytics: using solutions driven by data points within the farm and creation of data pipelines for downstream solutions
These tools help farmers to oversee the operations and make strategic decisions on the entire farm or a single plant without setting foot on the land.
Rising global population leads to rising demand for food
Over the last century, the global population has quadrupled. In comparison to the 1.5 billion that lived during 1915, we are currently at a tipping point with over 7.3 billion walking on Earth as of today. With the growth projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 while taking climate change into consideration, we need to prepare ourselves better, with regards to how we can feed these many mouths while making sure of not exhausting our resources.
Demand for food is projected to increase anywhere between 59–98% by 2050. The influence this has on our current agricultural markets is unprecedented. Farmers, globally, will have no choice but to increase crop production.
As simple as it sounds, the catch here is there are only two plausible ways this can be done; either increase the area of land available to farm or enhance productivity on the existing farms using smart farming practices.
So why isn’t smart farming techniques already a common practice across farms worldwide? There are many layers to why it hasn’t caught on in many indigenous farming communities. My aim today is to help you understand the challenges farmers face today to adopt advanced practices and at the same time advise on what should the next steps be as a consumer.
Let’s jump right in.
A New Era: Digital Farming
Take India for example, around 85% of the farmers here are small or marginal and do not have the expertise to onboard these tools. Is it impossible to do this? Absolutely not!
In fact, India’s economy has been in the race to become the best in the world for some time now. Digitalization is slowly becoming India’s identity, showing her prowess with UPI-enabled bank transactions.
Indian agtech startups similarly are on the rise. Having raised around $250 million back in 2019, currently, there are more than 500 plus agtech startups trying to digitize the farming landscape in the sub-continent by making use of all the IoT devices available for this. Why is this important? Inclusivity. Not only are they catering to the large farmers, but they also tend to bring the small/marginal ones back to level terms. With multiple products now available in the market for farmers to exploit, these startups aim to optimize and improve the efficiency of the farming landscape in India.
But are the small farmers exploring these options? Yes and No. Creating awareness about why they need to implement IoT in their farming techniques is crucial. Change scares people, especially when they are farmers whose sole breadwinner is the harvest from a single crop. This fear denies them the ability to understand not only does this improve their output in terms of harvest and profits, but it also will make their work less strenuous.
How can we change this? By educating them that technology does not destroy traditions but allows them to function better while staying true to their roots.
From all the technologies which use IoT devices to optimize a farm’s yield, here are some that I personally believe matter to every single farmer:
Irrigation system
In rural India, many farmers irrigate each crop according to unchanged crop schedules followed down by years without looking at the actual need for irrigation. Crops can be tended with water when the soil moisture level is below the threshold which would harm their growth.
The technique to automate the irrigation system is now available from different agtech startups. Different parts of the field are equipped with soil moisture sensors which monitor the level on a regular basis. It further notifies the irrigation pump placed at the farm if the soil moisture level falls below the threshold. A system can be set up where the pump then transmits the same to the farmer’s mobile, requesting authorization to begin irrigation.
This not only solves water wastage but also reduces a lot of manual labour at the farmer’s end.
IoT Sensors
Different types of IoT sensors exist. Each sensor has a specific function to perform in the field. As sensors produce data straight from the field, they are essential to the development of digital agricultural solutions.
Every area of the field has these sensors, which are equipped to produce the raw data. The collected data will be sent to the cloud, where it will be processed and either all or the most significant findings can be configured to be sent to the farmer.
The image below represents how an Indian IoT startup (Fasal) typically integrates and deploys IoT devices at a farm.
Startups like Fasal have a proven track record in achieving the targets set forth for the farmers. Their IoT devices help warn and capture crucial data points that were earlier unavailable for the farmers.
UAVs or Drones
Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones have more potential than we give them credit for. Experts predict that the agriculture drone market in India is expected to grow four-fold by 2028.
Drones have the ability to solve many problems faced by farmers daily. It can offer a variety of insights that support the farmer’s decision-making. Here are some uses of drones in the world of agriculture:
- Soil/Farm analysis
- Weed identification
- Crop spraying
- Livestock management
- Real-time crop monitoring
- Pest & disease identification
- Crop health assessment
Weather Data
The most unpredictable element in agriculture is the weather. This unpredictability has resulted in significant losses in both capital and output. As a result, it’s critical to predicting the weather accurately, allowing the farmer enough time to counter if needed.
Thanks to digital innovations and the introduction of IoT, farmers can now monitor weather information using their mobiles. The Kisan Suvidha app, developed by the Indian government, allows farmers to view the weather information for the next five days. Bhuvan, an ISRO-developed geo-platform, allows data to be collected and used for a variety of tasks, including disease and pest surveillance and weather forecasting.
Another important device in this space is the automated weather stations (AWS) that help farmers make well-informed decisions about irrigation, pesticide application, or cross-cultural interactions. The AWS is usually set up in different parts of farmland which would help gather real-time weather and agricultural monitoring data.
Market Connectivity
Agriculture is never complete without the supply chain of products to different marketplaces. All their year-long efforts in nurturing and harvesting the crops come down to how easily and profitably they can sell them to the vendors.
Something that is more frequently neglected while digitizing your farm is the market connectivity. In order to really witness the power of smart farming, the farmer needs to make sure to really nail this factor.
The only person in the economy who buys at retail and sells at wholesale is a farmer. Farmers typically wait until they can physically attend the APMC market, where the goods will be auctioned off, before learning the price they will receive for their production. The price will also be affected by the traders’ cartelization, which reduces the auction to a mere formality. Therefore, it presents a significant problem for the farmer to understand the true price of the good to cover the cost of production.
To address this APMC issue, the Indian Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare came up with a digital solutions platform called e-NAM. This portal allowed farmers to display their products for sale on it and receive fair prices from vendors who used the platform.
Here’s an illustration to help understand e-NAM’s role in the Indian agriculture sector.
The Future of Farming
Digitization of farmlands poses a bigger question to the community; is smart farming the way into the future for small, marginalized farmers in developing nations? The answer is a simple yes. As more and more homegrown entrepreneurs dedicate their entire business to bringing inclusivity to the Indian farming space, the issues they currently encounter with regard to the pricing of these IoT devices and sensors may soon be a thing of the past.
Nowadays, small farmers unite to form a Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) which allows them to afford the technology by combining their lands into one. If a farmer owns 2 hectares of land and is unable to afford these devices, all he/she needs to do is join hands with his neighbouring farms and split the costs equally, resulting in a win-win situation for all.
Indian agriculture is on the cusp of its transformational journey. There will be hurdles to conquer at every turn, but in this difficult path, there will also be opportunities to take advantage of. Our collective aim for the next few years must solely be towards capitalizing on these opportunities and providing our farmers with all the help they need to come away with a smooth harvest season.
What can you do to help this make a reality? Start small, volunteer at a local farm, understand the difficulties they face and help them connect with the right tools that will make their effort minimal. If the tools are beyond their budget, help them raise funds by spreading awareness amongst your community or friends circle. Social media can be a powerful tool if in the right hands. Helping your local farmers is one of the most fulfilling acts of kindness you can do in this day and age, not many realize their crucial role in making sure there is food and grains across the nation.
Food shortage is not an option for the future, we need to make sure we move in the direction to secure this. The right way to do this — well there is only one way; Farm Smart.
