(Written by princesses Loes Van Egmond and Iciar Ania)
With an ever-growing world population, the world will need to produce 70% more food in 2050 than it did in 2006, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Internet of things (IoT) – the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data – poses lots of opportunities to address this issue and increasing the quality, quantity, sustainability and cost effectiveness of agricultural production. Today’s farms can, for example, use IoT applications to monitor soil moisture, crop growth and livestock feed levels, remotely manage and control their smart connected harvesters and irrigation equipment or even utilize artificial intelligence based analytics to quickly analyze operational data.
These advances will have a direct impact on both the social and environmental footprint of the agriculture sector:
Water management – as of today, agriculture is the biggest use of water in the world and 60% of the water used in agriculture is wasted due to faulty irrigation systems. Similarly, a smart use of water requirements is key for agriculture as both water shortages or excess can ruin a crop. By using IoT technologies, crop irrigation will be optimized, which will prove to be extremely valuable especially in areas of drought.
Reduce pesticide use – with the use of pesticides being among the most environmentally damaging practices used in agriculture and the public opinion being increasingly in favor of natural food, the use of IoT and connected sensors will enable farmers to better monitor pest populations. These sensors will be connected to the fertilizer system that will only release pesticides when pest populations are significant enough to damage the crop.
Livestock management – with the average consumer being more concerned every day about livestock receiving a more humane treatment and the cost of raising livestock increasing every year, IoT advances in animal treatment will be key in the next years. IoT and more specifically the use of bio-monitoring devices will enable farmers to track and record useful data such as the animal’s temperature or heart rate that will be used to anticipate a potential health issue or to provide a quick treatment to the animal.
Reduce deforestation – deforestation has proven to be one of the last centuries key environmental challenges. However, the use of IoT will increase crops’ yields, which will reduce the need of continuing with the high degree of deforestation.
Food quality and safety – as of today, it is estimated that 40% of food is wasted every year in the US, half of which is wasted during its distribution. The use of IoT and the ability to track for example the route of food delivery and incorporating other factors such as expected weather or current environmental conditions can save food waste and ensure food safety. Additionally, there is a potential increase in the food supply chain transparency.
Reduce farmer’s exposure to uncertainty – agriculture is one of the sectors in which there is a larger amount of uncertainty as farmer’s have to deal with changing weather conditions, water shortages, plagues and other unexpected events. Historically, this has meant that millions of farmers all around the globe have been severely impacted by environmental shifts and economic downturns. IoT will help farmers make better decisions that will maximize a crop’s yield such as when is the optimal time to plant or harvest their crops or when to separate an ill livestock from the rest to prevent a disease from spreading.
“The future of farming is in collecting and analyzing big data in agriculture in order to maximize efficiency”
The challenge is however, that setting up these technologies to maximize efficiency will require lots of capital investment, which is only available to the large agriculture companies in developed countries. The rise of smart agriculture will only increase the gap between the cost per crop for the mass production companies compared to the local farms.
Precision agriculture is the future – or is it?
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Sources:
- https://www.ibm.com/blogs/internet-of-things/iot-agricultural-applications/
- http://www.businessinsider.com/internet-of-things-smart-agriculture-2016-10?IR=T&r=US&IR=T
- http://blog.bosch-si.com/categories/projects/2017/02/how-the-internet-of-things-will-revolutionise-agriculture/
- https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/ag-knowledge/technology-and-innovation/the-internet-of-things-implications-for-agriculture.html
- http://www.davranetworks.com/news/iot-and-agriculture-how-the-internet-of-things-is-changing-agricultural-operations
- http://www.rcrwireless.com/20161118/telco-cloud/iot-impact-environment-tag31-tag99
It seems like no matter what we do, there will always be a downside. Precision agriculture will allow farmers to produce crops and take care of livestock in a more environmentally friendly and at the same time more cost-effective manner. It may help to eradicate plagues and the aggregated data will allow researchers to detect and understand complex patterns, which can have a significant effect on how farming will function in the future. One could argue that this will allow farmers to produce food that will make it more affordable (and available) to the poorer parts of the population. At the same time we run the risks of destroying people’s livelihoods. I think this is the risk we run with a lot of the digital innovations that are developing at the moment and how we earn our livelihood will shift significantly. How do you ensure that whole parts of the population aren’t left behind? I do not know the answer to that question.
Great blog and it raises several interesting points. However, I do see another crucial challenge: A large part of this 70% increase in required food you mention will be required in Africa, which is expected to see huge growth rates of its population. And implementing the technologies in these countries will definitively be a massive challenge, since a lot of the farming in many African countries is being done by smallholder farmers mostly in very rural areas. For them, issues like electrification or sometimes even installations of irrigation systems are currently their biggest challenges and would need to be addressed first before thinking about how IoT can help them, yet I think it might have great potential there as well in the long-run
I love the article. I actually wrote on precision farming too, but using different examples. I think the important question is found at the end of the blog, where Loes and Iciar mention that for now only larger agricultural companies can afford these technologies. It is certainly a huge challenge to bring costs down so many can benefit from these technologies. I really like the comments from Annika and Moritz. In Africa most farmers and smallholders and it is unlikely that they will be able to adopt these technologies. However, as Annika points out, these technologies have the capability of replacing many of these smallhold farmers. There is a big potential for countries like Ethopia with massive farm businesses to mechanize a produce enough for half of the continent, but this will have a big social impact, as additional jobs would need to be generated to sustain everyone’s livelihoods.
I have experience though some cases where new technologies have improved the life of small hold farmers. In East Africa there is an Uber for tractors, which allows farmers who cannot afford to plow their fields to rent tractor services for an hour or two. This is proving to be a game changer for many farmers.
Great article, princesses Loes Van Egmond and Iciar Ania, and great picture! I really enjoyed ready it, as well as the very relevant comments.
In agreement with the fact that these technologies might increase the gap between smallholders and big farms in developing countries. In developed countries, however, I see it as a great solution to improve productivity and help farmers. For example in Europe, where farming has become difficult in terms of financial sustainability.
Big fan of the pic and its showcase of your precision cow petting skills!
Great article. Personally, i believe precision farming is the way to go. Information now is considered wealth in any industry. Applying big data and technology to manual labor will definitely increase productivity. Maybe something to add to this article would be partnerships with other stakeholders such as private corporations and governments who can provide synergies.
Great article. I agree with previous comments that this technology may further widen the gap between small farms to big farms or farms in developing countries to developed countries. However, in the end, if the technology is successful, I believe the consumers ultimately wins.