Smart Farm: Trends, Innovations, and Real-World Applications
Smart farm enhances agricultural productivity, addresses agricultural-based issues, such as food demand, and makes farms more connected and intelligent.
1. What is the Smart Farm?
Smart farming, also known as smart agriculture, is the application of modern technology and data analytics to optimize agricultural practices. It involves the integration of various advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, drones, and big data analytics to monitor, automate, and improve farming operations.
This article will give you an overview of smart farm, covering essential information like trends, technologies that make smart agriculture possible, and also some typical real-world applications.
2.Future of Smart Farm
*Forecast market value of smart farming worldwide in 2021 to 2027 by Statista 2024
This statistic shows the market value of smart farming worldwide in 2021, and provided a forecast for 2022 to 2027. The global market size of smart agriculture is expected to grow from approximately 15 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 to 33 billion U.S. dollars by 2027.
According to the International Monetary Fund, food production must increase by 70% by 2050 to keep up with global population growth. This pressing need is driving farmers to embrace innovative solutions that can enhance efficiency and productivity.
Advanced technologies including Internet of Things(IoT), Information and communications technology(ICT), Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning(AI&ML), Automation and robotics, are revolutionizing agricultural production at various agri-businesses power today’s modern farming.
“ Through smart farming, we can better adapt to the uncertainties brought by climate change, mitigate environmental impacts and promote resilience in agricultural production. ”
— The International Organization for Standardization
3. Internet of Things in Smart Farm
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of physical devices like vehicles, appliances, and other objects that have sensors, software, and internet connectivity, allowing them to gather and share data. In smart farm, IoT devices include various sensors used for monitoring crops, tracking livestock, and checking the condition of farm equipment.
Seeed Studio offers wireless LoRaWAN sensors, trackers, data loggers, indicators, gateways, and cloud services. Through wireless sensor connectivity, SenseCAP offers the physical world’s accurate environmental measurements to the users, along with its robust industrial-grade design, ready-to-use PaaS platform, Apps, and open API services. This is ideal for the smart farm.
4.Related Applications
4.1 Poultry farm decision support and management
To address the challenges of inefficient practices, animal health, and consumer demands for transparency in poultry farming industries, our partner DunavNET collaborated with Axceta and deployed the poultryNET, an IoT/AI-based solution powered by Seeed Studio SenseCAP LoRaWAN devices in the Montreal area in the poultry barns of Sollio Agriculture to revolutionize the poultry farming industry. The poultryNET combines edge and cloud functionalities, utilizing SenseCAP LoRaWAN sensors and video cameras to monitor environmental conditions, chicken behavior, and operational parameters, which improves animal welfare, and production efficiency, and establishes a traceable food supply chain. The project reduced mortality rates and improved feed conversion ratios, and it also empowers farmers with real-time guidance and decision support to optimise their poultry production, which offers a promising approach to enhance efficiency and profitability in poultry farming.
4.2 Monitor Farming Practices for Regenerative Agriculture
This initiative in Bungoma, Kenya, led by One Planet Education Network (OPEN) and Mabanga Agriculture Training Center, employs a LoRaWAN-based sensing network to implement sustainable regenerative agriculture practices. Overcoming challenges of limited internet access and high data costs, the project utilizes SenseCAP sensors to collect real-time data on air and soil conditions, transmitted via the Helium LoRaWAN Network. The results, demonstrated over four growing seasons, reveal exceptional improvements in soil health and erosion prevention. Local farmers, guided by data-driven practices, adopt strategic crop rotation and no-till methods to enhance crop yields.
4.3 Rice Pest and Disease Monitoring
To tackle the problem of rice pests and diseases in the field, Seeed Studio, partnered with Chengdu Yunyi Technology Co., deployed the Rice Pest & Disease Mornitoring and Forecasting solution in Guangxi, China. This project utilized the SenseCAP S700 Weather Sensor, Industrial pH Sensor, DO sensor, SensCAP 4G Sensor Hub, as well as the SenseCAP Portal and Mobile APP. Meteorology is not only necessary for the growth of rice, but also a key factor in the occurrence and spread of pests and diseases. Real-time monitoring can guide farmers in developing field management practices, such as irrigation, fertilization, and use of pesticides, ensuring a bountiful harvest.
That wraps up our sharing on smart farming for today. If you have any needs or inquiries related to smart farming, feel free to contact us. We’re here to help you harness the power of technology for a more efficient and sustainable future in agriculture.
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