Agricultural technology becomes more accessible through the cloud

The demands on the agricultural sector have never been higher. This sector should provide food, fuel and fiber to a world population of 9.8 billion by 2050. In addition to these challenges, we also have to adapt to the impacts of climate change, such as drought and desertification. output.

Agricultural intensification in the form of over-fertilization has helped boost productivity to keep up with demand, but the resulting environmental damage has only further degraded agricultural soils, resulting in lower yields. Requires more Fertilizer and jeopardizes the sector – 22 situations. Careful and thoughtful fertilization is required. This is where the practice of precision agriculture begins.

What is precision agriculture?

Precision agriculture is a farm management concept that applies pesticides and water in a prescriptive manner to minimize waste and associated pollution. This is achieved by measuring inter- and intra-field variability of crops and collecting soil, weather and crop data.

Then, when this data is analyzed, it can inform decision-making, increase productivity, and reduce the cost of inputs. Pesticide waste is also reduced and its formulation application reduces fertilizer runoff and minimizes environmental degradation. The concept has been around since his 1980s, but modern technology is now helping make it a reality.

Cost remains a barrier to agriculture

In order to effectively utilize this management philosophy, it is necessary to collect and analyze a huge amount of agricultural data. The emergence of certain technologies has underpinned the growth of precision agriculture such as GPS. However, it was initially limited to research institutes and academia because it was expensive to collect huge amounts of data and needed the granularity needed for precision agriculture.

However, with explosive technological innovation, these situations are beginning to change. However, significant barriers remain. The majority of farms are still smallholders who cannot afford both these technologies and the computing power to support them.

farm of the future

The agricultural sector has been a slow adopter of technology, but cloud computing is important in facilitating its technological revolution. For example, data required for precision agriculture can be easily stored and aggregated in the cloud rather than on local servers. In the field, this data can be collected by cloud-connected wireless sensors and analyzed in the cloud to provide real-time information and decision support for farmers to understand the health of their crops.

The implementation of IoT sensor technology and monitoring tools is also supported in the cloud. The cloud offers a large amount of storage and can store vast amounts of agricultural data from various sources. For example, satellite imagery, climate and crop data, or market data can be aggregated for quick calculations.

need to spread

To fully realize the environmental benefits of precision farming, the industry as a whole needs to adopt precision farming technology, not just the big companies that can afford the technology. Cloud computing could help support the widespread adoption of precision farming techniques in this area.

The low costs associated with cloud infrastructure and its scalability are attractive features of cloud computing. Farmers can quickly access pools of agricultural data without having to invest in expensive hardware. This could help bridge the gap between large agricultural enterprises and small and medium-sized farms in terms of technology adoption.

There is now a wider range of technology on the market for all types of farmers. If implemented across the industry, the widespread adoption of technologies supported by cloud computing could see broader adoption of precision agriculture solutions. Therefore, more farmers can make informed and comprehensive decisions, reducing the need for excessive fertilizer use.