Emerging Trends and Use Cases of Internet of Things (IoT) in Transforming Agriculture Industry

The Internet of Things (IoT) is all about making outdated products or things smarter by linking them to different devices and with the internet. It helps in controlling and sensing the physical objects by making opportunities for directly connecting the computer-based devices with the real world.

In this blog, we will be discussing the use and challenges of adopting IoT in agriculture.

What is IoT in agriculture?

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a method of connecting different devices over the internet that allows to gather and pass immense amounts of information. IoT technology helps in the creation of a cycle that generates better precise products while helping in the digitalization of agriculture.

In agriculture, several devices are controlled and monitored remotely in real-time, which includes anything ranging from tractors, weather stations, pumps to computers and sheds.

IoT-based devices help the farmers to monitor the infrastructures and control the conditions of the farms remotely. IoT has helped in reducing the labor efforts, investment capital, time spent on the field and allowing people to focus more on other important works.

Use Cases of IoT in Agriculture:

Following are some of the use cases of IoT in agriculture:

• Monitoring the Climatic Conditions

Probably, the most prevalent technology in smart agriculture is weather stations equipped with various agriculture sensors. Generally, these sensors are located at different places in the field for collecting the environmental data and passing it to the required platforms. The collected information from these sensors can be used by the farmers in deciding the correct crop plantation and taking the required steps for improving the quality and capacity of the production.

Some common examples of agriculture devices based on IoT are Smart Elements, Pycno, and allMETEO.

• Greenhouse Automation

Generally, manual inventions are used by the farmers to keep the greenhouse environment controlled. However, with the use of IoT sensors, farmers can get real-time data on the conditions of the greenhouse, such as temperature, soil conditions, humidity, and lighting.

• Crop Management

Similar to the weather sensors, crop managing products are placed in the farming land to gather information related to the farming of the crop, ranging from perception and temperature to requirement of water by crops and overall health. Thus, farmers can monitor the growth of their crops and prevent infestations and diseases that can damage the crops.

• Cattle Management and Monitoring

Similar to crop monitoring, IoT sensors can also be connected with animals for monitoring their records and health performance. Livestock monitoring and tracking help in gathering information on stock health, physical location, and wellbeing of animals.

For example, IoT-based sensors can easily identify the animals who are sick and will allow farmers to remove them from the group to reduce the chances of contamination.

• Agriculture Drones

Agricultural drones are said to be the most promising advancements in the ecosystem of smart farming. These drones are also called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which can collect better agriculture data compared to satellites and airplanes. Apart from collecting data, drones can perform several tasks that were done by manual labor, such as fighting infections and pests, agriculture spraying, planting crops, and crop monitoring.

Market Overview

The pandemic has affected almost every major sector in the world, including the farming sector. The pandemic resulted in the high downfall of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for every country in 2020. However, due to the pandemic, the adoption of IoT technology by farmers has increased.

In 2021, the sensing systems segment in the IoT in agriculture market dominated the market by generating the highest revenue of $6.72 billion.

As per the BIS Research market report, the global IoT in the agriculture market was valued at $21.99 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow and touch $35.55 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 10.1%.

Based on the region, North America held a high number of shares, and the total value of the region was $7.84 billion in 2021. The reason behind North America being the highest contributor in the IoT in agriculture market was the pre-existing use of advanced technology and its use in the agriculture sector with the motive to raise the production capacity.

Challenges Faced by the Agriculture Sector in the Adoption of IoT Technology:

IoT technology has got the highest capabilities to transform the agriculture sector in the coming years. However, it also faces some challenges that are still preventing many farmers from adopting IoT technology. Following are a few challenges that farmers are facing with respect to the adoption of IoT in agriculture:

• Infrastructure

Today, even if farmers start adopting IoT technology completely, they won’t be able to reap any benefits due to the presence of poor infrastructure. Most farmers are living in remote areas where the connectivity of the internet is poor. Thus, to get the benefits and access the IoT sensors and other devices remotely, farmers need proper internet connectivity, or the whole system would be useless.

• High Cost

Equipment used in the setting up of IoT technology is highly expensive and cannot be afforded by every farmer.

• Lack of Education

To use IoT-based devices, the farmers must learn and understand everything about the technology.

Conclusion:

Therefore, the use of IoT-based agricultural applications is helping farmers in getting meaningful data at the required time. With the growing population, the demand of the rising population can be easily met with the use and implementation of IoT solutions in agriculture in an effective manner.