Is Digital Farming a Future ?
The digital farming industry offers the agricultural industry new tools and information to make more informed decisions and increase productivity. It combines agriculture technology with farm production and reduces the losses.
Digital Farming
Smart farming and precision farming combine to form Digital Farming through the use of intelligent software and hardware.
- Precision farming is defined as ‘a technology-enabled approach to managing individual farms and crops.
- In smart Farming, data from various sources (historical, geographic, and instrumental) is used to manage farm activities .
A network-connected smart device can be configured as part of the Internet of Things (IoT), or a software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based agriculture technology can be employed .
IoT in agriculture comprises sensors, Wifi-drones, robots, and cameras. When a hardware device transfers data over a network, it becomes a smart device. Wifi- Drones, Sensors, and cameras are installed on the farms and record the data. A drone can be bought and stationed on farms as a pay-per-service or as a paid service. Linked to an analytical dashboard, the IoT systems can provide data analysis and help manage the overall farm activities. the data cannot be used to demonstrate financial gains or losses. They are just data.
How Digital Farming is revolutionizing the future
We see digital Farming as having the potential to revolutionize agriculture and create significant benefits for farmers and society since we need to grow food more sustainably by reducing losses. Adopting new digital farming technologies, such as IoT, data science, advanced sensors on the ground and in space, digital communication channels, and automation, is possible to achieve this.
So, more and more farmers can make better decisions, increase yields, reduce waste, and improve wealth in rural areas.
Future traits of agriculture.
Productivity: agriculture’s future will unlock yield reserves crucial to feeding a population in rapid growth. Smart Farming will enable millions of farmers to make optimized decisions.
The farm of the future will be more connected. Different devices will collect information and – in a pretty automated way – lead to direct optimized applications: the “IOT = internet of things” on the farm.
Moreover, we observe a highly dynamic environment, with the fast development of technologies and substantial changes in the way Farming is conducted. This is also stimulated by “agile development” – fast-paced technology advancements characteristic of
Digital Farming applications.
Despite that we cannot predict the future, we know that it will be an exciting one, with lots of opportunities for farmers to boost productivity while protecting Earth’s limited resources.
Digital Farming a solution to Challenges we face in Farming –
As food standards rise, as climate change, water scarcity, pollution, and population growth substantially increase, we need new weapons to even maintain, let alone improve, the way we grow food. We believe digital Farming is a key answer to these challenges.
What can be done to digitalize farms?
Farmers can adopt best practices and manage farms more efficiently by utilizing digital Farming to reduce losses and maximize profits.
Agricultural technology can help farmers transform to digital Farming through IoT. A combination of sensors, drones, and computer imaging can provide actionable insights.
A farm’s physical equipment records and monitors data that is used for insight. Satellite imagery and machine learning technologies have enabled predictive analytics software to become very favorable, as they are scalable and easy to use.
How can digital agriculture benefit the seed value chain as a multinational seed company that has developed a digital strategy?
Digitalization can be applied across every step of a seed company’s operation, from seed research to seed selling.
Population growth is outpacing farmland availability per person. Our food supply will need to be secured in the long run by increasing agricultural productivity. The deployment of resources effectively and sustainably with the help of digital technology enables farmers to maximize productivity while minimizing environmental impacts.
Digital Farming in India :
By 2050, the world’s population is projected to reach 9.6 billion. As a result, food demand would increase significantly, even though freshwater and arable land resources are decreasing rapidly. It is therefore necessary to upscale, upgrade, and modify the agriculture sector.
A digital solution could solve this problem. Other innovations gaining prominence in the industry include Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and Nano Technology. A significant change is being brought about in the farming process and value chain due to a revolution in the industrial process.
In agriculture, genome editing and smart breeding technologies are being adopted, and digital AI-based technologies are being integrated with microbial soil mapping to increase output quality and develop pest and disease-resistant seed etc.
Usage of Biofertilizer and Organic Fertilizer are also useful to maintain soil fertility
Usage of nanomaterials in agriculture, such as targeted delivery of nutrients or pharmaceutical capsids for the detection and treatment of diseases and delivery of bioactive compounds to targeted sites, thus boosting the growth of the crop, among other innovative applications. In addition, it delivers strategies for implementing these international and Indian learnings for accelerating food and agriculture sector transformation.
Digital Farming Technology
India’s farmers rely primarily on their traditional knowledge to select their crops. The crop’s suitability depends on factors such as soil type, market demand, and weather patterns. AI-based technology could consider all of these factors and suggest which crop to plant.
A digital technology can pinpoint the type of seed, soil preparation quality, soil health evaluation, moisture percentage estimation, real-time crop evaluation, and others to provide reliable information to the farmers.
IoT and analytical tools can also be used to optimize the third stage of agricultural production, i.e., harvesting so that the nutritional content of the crop is maximized.
With the use of digital tools, farmers are able to optimize their production value and ensure the efficient use of resources. Digital tools can assist the farmer when it comes to pricing, storage, transportation, and logistics.
Despite efforts to digitize agricultural production in India, digital technology has yet to be widely adopted. Furthermore, limited adoption of mechanization tools and recurring natural phenomena, such as floods, droughts, etc., have inhibited the deployment of digital solutions in this sector.
How can we achieve digital technology in Farming ?
Develop a robust digital infrastructure in the country consisting of –
- Satellite imaging
- Soil health information
- Land records
- Cropping patterns
- Market data, and so on.
Satellite data sources can be used
Increase data efficiency through –
- Digital Topography
- The Nature of Land Use & Land Cover
- Map of soils
- The Land Registry
- Boundaries within the administration
- Develop a demand-side and market management system.
Government and private sector collaborations could be explored for the processing and analysis of large volumes of data.
Accelerate innovation and research in order to validate and commercialize innovations. Aside from learning from the advancement in computing, artificial intelligence, big data, and other emerging technologies, India has a tremendous opportunity in the agricultural sector. Agricultural production increased as a result of the green revolution, but the IT revolution in Indian agriculture will be the next giant step.
Data is the life source of many advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Satellite Image Processing Accessing a pan-India data set that covers a whole host of information on attributes such as weather type, soil type, market
conditions, crop production and variety etc.
Its is crucial for tech ventures to develop their technologies and make them useful at a macroscopic level. Thus, creation of a unified single data authority is recommended . Need for data sharing mechanisms Creating a mechanism for data sharing between
different states, government institutions, and other public stakeholders is recommended to access the complete potential of utilizing data.
Methods of Digital Farming can grow Farming Sector at marginal scale without much loses and hence increase the crop yield and productivity