. A farmer must be knowledgeable about soil, climate, and market. If something goes wrong with any of these areas the result will be devastating. This is where one of mankind’s biggest inventions, the Internet, offers the most reliable assistance. The Internet of Things has a plethora of devices that can make the work of a farmer far easier and more productive.

Smart Sensors

Smart sensors are the number one in a huge list of IoT devices being used in agriculture. These devices can be used to gather data about various aspects of agriculture like the humidity, acidity or mineral contents of the soil. Earlier these kinds of knowledge were something that farmers were supposed to gain after many years of experiences of both gain and loss. Or they had to depend on time taking and distant laboratories. But even a lab test had a limited chance of being hundred percent accurate as the soil’s quality could change in the blink of an eye. Smart sensors can provide the farmer with accurate data in real time. The data collected can precisely calculate and predict many changing or evolving aspects like the humidity content of the soil. These data can help decide:

1. The crops to be planted
2. The manures to be used
3. The amount and timing of watering
4. The market price for the final product

Drones

Next in the line is the use of drones. These can be used to:

1. Observe vast areas and collect important information that can help decide the most efficient methods of cultivation.
2. Provide the farmer with a bird’s eye view, thereby reducing the time and effort wasted in surveying the land personally.
3. Assist in remote application of pesticides and herbicides.
4. Track the cattle or scrutinize their health.

The data collected by sensors and drones can be used to create a plan through which the farmers can guarantee a good output with minimum input and loss. This will reduce a great percentage of both financial and manual investment. Besides, instead of depending on one’s gut feelings, a farmer can take a multitude of important decisions with scientifically backed technology. IoT devices can be easily operated by the farmers by connecting it to a laptop or mobile phone. There are various apps that are already very popular for providing agricultural data. There are also various government backed projects aimed at collection of data, providing online solutions and even arranging financial support for the smart framer.

Smart Greenhouses

Another IoT contribution is Smart Greenhouses. Greenhouses always contain plants which are out of their natural habitat and therefore need extra care. IoT enabled greenhouses can help:

1. Monitor the procedures of watering
2. Adjust the humidity inside
3. Analyse and provide proper lighting
4. Ensure proper balance in delicate matters like the level of carbon dioxide, temperature, etc.
5. In disease control by providing a close watch on all the plants’ vitals.

Such precise and high level of attention makes sure that there is no contamination in the greenhouse environment that could lead to spread of diseases. It can also help in detection or prevention of theft, which is a big risk especially if the plants are of rare or protected species.

Livestock Management

IoT in livestock management is bringing about revolutionary changes. With the spread of COVID-19, it is now a very crucial requirement that the livestock are healthy throughout their life. Even a small disease in the animal could turn out to be dangerous for the human who finally consumes it. Also spread of diseases in small animals like poultry can lead to devastatingly large loss for the farmer. Smart devices can help:

1. Track the vitals of each animal or bird through devices which are wearable.
2. Alert the farmer of even slight variations in the vitals via SMS, notifications, etc.
3. Administer medicines at the correct time, to any number of animals without having to keep manual tabs

All these crucial routines help in keeping diseases in check and thus reduce livestock loss.

There are many more IoT powered devices that are revolutionizing the field of livestock management like Geo-tagging and Geo-fencing.

1. Geo-tagging: It is used to locate the cattle that has strayed away from the herd or gone missing. Geo-tags are especially useful in case of natural calamities like flood, tsunami, landslide, etc. For example, the farmers of Kerala in South India used geo-tags to locate their animals that had either gone missing or died in the flood of 2018.
2. Geo-fencing: It is another popular method and it uses GPS to monitor and keep the cattle within a boundary without actual fencing. This can help in detecting cattle theft or even wild animal attacks on the livestock.

The Limitations and Solutions

IoT is already here to stay in the fields of agriculture, and there is more to come. But like anything else IoT in agriculture has certain cons. These limitations can thankfully be eliminated.

The Future

The agriculture IoT market is estimated to grow from USD 11.4 billion in 2021 to USD 18.1 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 9.8% during 2021-2026, as per ResearchAndMarkets.com.

A few insights can be:

1. Precision Aquaculture: The agriculture IoT market for the precision aquaculture application segment is projected to register the higher CAGR during the forecast period, by application. Increasing demand for real-time tracking of fishing activity is the major reason behind the high growth of the agriculture IoT market in aquaculture farm monitoring applications.
2. Production Planning: The production planning stage segment of the agriculture IoT market is estimated to register the largest market share in 2026, by the farm production planning stage.
3. Small Farm Segment: The agriculture IoT market for small farm segment is projected to register the higher CAGR during the forecast period, by farm size. Small farms are expected to adopt automation and other advanced technologies at the highest rate in the coming years due to the reducing cost of farm automation equipment and advancements in technology that make it more feasible to deploy automation tools even on smaller farms to achieve high returns on investments.
4. Automation & Control Systems: The automation and control systems for the precision farming hardware segment of the agriculture IoT market is estimated to register the largest market share in 2026, by hardware type. The increasing demand for drones/unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is a major reason behind the high growth of the market for automation and control systems.

APAC is likely to be the fastest-growing agriculture IoT market during the forecast period. Agriculture IoT techniques are expected to be adopted at a high rate in the region. This region consists of emerging countries such as India, China, and countries in Southeast Asia. Rapidly growing population, availability of arable land, and strong government support for farmers through subsidies in these regions are the major factors driving the adoption of agriculture IoT technologies in APAC.

These projections show that IoT based agriculture is here to make a big splash and is a boon of science.