Many innovative technologies have received an application for precision agriculture. They play a critical role in developing modern agriculture and moving from traditional methods to more sustainable ones. Innovation is involved in many areas, including indoor vertical farming, greenhouse work, animal husbandry, and more. The sector faces various challenges related to climate change, increasing supply costs, labor shortages, and more. Agricultural enterprises are looking for solutions to these problems, and therefore the technology market for this sector receives a vast amount of investment. In the last year alone, the amount was $1.9 billion. This article provides information about technologies helping agriculture solve critical problems and challenges, moving towards a sustainable future.
Table of Contents
Soil and Water Sensors
Water and soil sensors can bring many benefits to your farm. These devices have an affordable price and are distinguished by their durability. To reap the many benefits of sensors, they have to be distributed over the entire farming land. The devices give information about the moisture and nitrogen content in the soil.
This information helps agrarians make more reasonable decisions about crop watering and fertilization. Agrarians can rely on plant needs instead of a schedule while reducing costs. In addition, saving water will make the farm more environmentally friendly and help avoid erosion and pollution of local water bodies.
Satellite Imaging
Modern technologies make it possible to obtain satellite images in high quality. Satellite images today can provide a vast amount of important information. Farmers receive critical insights into the health of their crops and can better understand the problems and needs of their farmland through this. The integration of this technology with various sensors also significantly expands the capabilities of farmers, including providing timely warnings of threats.
Weather Tracking
Computer weather modeling continues to improve and develop. Agrarians have access to online services designed specifically for the sector and meet its needs. Such services can be used both with the help of portable devices and with the help of mobile apps. Thanks to this technology, farmers receive notifications of approaching frosts, heavy rains, hail, and other extreme weather conditions. It gives farmers a chance to take timely measures to protect the crop. In this way, significant losses can be avoided.
Indoor vertical farming
Vertical farming is a method of growing different crops on vertical shelves stacked on top of each other indoors and in controlled conditions. Producing a variety of crops indoors provides many benefits. It is an opportunity to increase yields without cutting down forests to create new agricultural land and decrease the negative impact on nature.
Vertical farming allows you to produce food closer to the consumer, eliminating many problems in the supply chain. In addition to saving space, some vertical farm options also don’t include the use of soil. This growing practice uses hydroponics (crops grown in a bowl of water and nutrients) or aquaponics (sprayed with nutrient-enriched water). Artificial lighting replaces sunlight.
A critical advantage of a vertical farm is water savings. Planting, labor, and logistics will also be cheaper than conventional farming. In addition, you can control and adjust all growing parameters, including lighting and soil moisture.
Blockchain
Blockchain technology can help solve food system problems, including food fraud, supply chain issues, and food traceability. It can ensure the transparency and safety of the food market. For example, perishable products need to be constantly tracked. Otherwise, they may threaten human health. Blockchain allows recording the entire path of the product from the manufacturer to the table, while the data will be recorded accurately and without changes.
In addition to ensuring food safety, blockchain also contributes to adding value to the current market by creating a registry on the network and balancing market prices. Supply chain participants can securely exchange verified transactions, thus making the market more transparent. Furthermore, data access provides a complete situation on the market.
Artificial Intelligence
Digital agriculture is evolving, giving us even more opportunities to work with data. Today, information can be obtained from many different sources, including UAVs, satellites, and remote sensors that collect data 24 hours a day across the field. These devices make it possible to track changes in the areas and control the condition of plants. They also provide soil, humidity, and temperature monitoring.
Artificial intelligence turns the received data into useful information. The algorithms interpret the field environment as statistical data that agrarians can rely on to make an effective decision.
Algorithms adapt and learn as they receive and process data. The primary purpose of applying AI in farming is to enable agrarians to make more effective decisions and increase yields.
GIS-based solutions
GIS software is one of the most helpful precision farming tools because fields are location-dependent. With this technology, current and future changes in plant health, rainfall, yield, and temperature are available to farmers. In addition, GPS-based applications can help to optimize the use of resources in conjunction with intelligent farming equipment. Such solutions save time and money, as farmers cultivate fields based on the needs and problems of individual plots and not evenly throughout the area. GIS-based solutions also enable accurate data collection using drones and satellites from a bird’s eye view.
Robotics and Internet of Things
Innovative technologies make many things in our daily life “smart.” They can collect data about what is happening around us and what actions we perform, then provide valuable information to improve the quality of our lives. Agricultural machinery and weather stations are also being enhanced through innovation. They can provide a real-time overview of the territory and its complete analysis. In this way, farmers can significantly save time and effort by reducing the number of daily work steps.
In combination with the Internet of Things, robots are physical objects with embedded sensors and software to connect to the Internet and exchange data. Thanks to these innovations, farmers can constantly monitor the condition of the soil and plants and take timely measures to protect crops and improve conditions.
Farm management platforms
Various companies today offer farmers integrated platforms for agriculture. Such solutions allow you to receive information about all activities and changes in one device’s fields. Platforms reflect different types of data and information from various monitoring tools in one place. With their help, you can observe and manage the farm without losing sight of anything.
Minichromosome Technology
Scientists have used minichromosome technology to enhance the genetic traits of plants. The minichromosome does not contain a large amount of genetic material, but with its help, it is possible to enrich the crop. In addition, genetic engineering manipulations make it possible to improve and supplement the crop’s nutritional value. Another advantage of this technology is making crops more resilient to extreme weather conditions, such as drought. This technology has a broad potential for agriculture application, and genetic engineers continue to study it.
Final thoughts
The application of innovative technologies in modern agriculture provides many benefits to farmers. With their help, you can monitor the condition of crops and soil, control growing conditions and be aware of potential threats. Technology allows you to make more effective decisions and increase yields without burdening the environment.
In addition, modern indoor vertical farming systems save space and let the agrarians grow food closer to the consumer market. Existing technological solutions, such as blockchain, make agricultural supplies and the market more transparent for producers and consumers. Today, farmers can get all the tools to increase profits and make production more sustainable.