The World Government Summit has released a report on title Agriculture 4.0 - The Future of Farming Technology is associated with Oliver Wyman for the 2018 edition of the international program. The report addresses four major developments that are putting pressure on the agricultural sector to meet future needs: a scarcity of natural resources, demographics, climate change, and food waste.
Demand continues to rise, but by 2050, 70 percent more food will be needed as per the report. At the same time, the share of agriculture in the world GDP fell to just 3 percent. Approximately 800 million people worldwide are suffering from hunger. As per a business report, by 2030, 8 percent (or 650 million) of the world's population will be malnourished. The reality is that very few innovations in the industry have taken place too late, and nothing suggests that food shortages and hunger will not be an issue in the upcoming decades.
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Tackling these challenges requires the collective effort of governments, investors, and innovative agricultural technology. Agriculture 4.0 is no longer dependent on the uniform application of water, pesticides, and fertilizers throughout the farm. Instead, farmers use the minimum size required and target very specific areas. The report said that farm activities would have to function very differently as technology advances, mainly sensors, equipment, machinery, and information technology. Future agriculture will use highly developed technology such as robots, temperature and humidity sensors, aerial imagery, and GPS technology remarked by Combine Crank Manufacturers. These innovative tools and precision farming and robotic systems allow farms to become more profitable, efficient, safe, and environmentally friendly.
Governments play a pivotal role in addressing food shortages. They need to play a broader and more important role than their traditional control and sensitive performance. Governments can do this by challenging the traditional heritage model and following such a program:
- Assure food security and reduce dependence on imports
- Become an exporter of not only products but also new solutions and IPs
- Grow productivity and support the transition to innovation and the knowledge-based economy
Transformation of production methods and types of equipment
Agricultural digitization is based on the development and introduction of new tools and machinery in production.
Connected tractors
Tractors and operators are important tools for agro-industrial development. Connectivity and localization technologies (GPS) optimize the use of these agricultural appliances. This includes driver assistance to optimize routes and reduce cutting and crop processing while reducing fuel consumption.
It depends on the deployment of sensors in the devices to enable accurate agriculture. Strict monitoring and control of crop treatments achieve significant gains in sensor efficiency and productivity, mentioned by Harvester-combines Manufacturers. In addition, connectivity allows contractors to more accurately track equipment usage and create business models using more accurate billing of equipment usage.
[Source: agroberichtenbuitenland.nl]
New measuring instruments
Finally, there is a significant change in the ability to collect more data and measurements about the product: irrigation status, soil quality, climate, and the presence of insects and pests. Here this capability takes many forms, from sensors mounted on tractors to direct mounting of sensors in the field and on the ground, or by the use of UAV / drones or satellite imagery to stockpile measurements from above.
Automation
Another important transformation in the agricultural production process is the increasing role of automation in increasing productivity by reducing the need for human labor. It can take many forms, from vehicle automation to the development of task-specific robots that automate parts of the manufacturing process.
IoT requirements
The development of these new tools and applications in the field of agriculture is strongly dependent on the development of connecting materials. The domain has special requirements in terms of connectivity commented by top agricultural machinery manufacturing companies in India.
[Source: eletimes.com]
Includes rural areas
The ability of communication networks to effectively operate and protect rural areas is an important requirement.
Connecting farms with types of machinery
The main connectivity requirements of agricultural IoT applications are large coverage and low cost of deployment or maintenance. Most applications that focus on monitoring and data collection have lower requirements for bandwidth and less latency. It adapts technologies such as the Legacy 2G network and LPWA Technologies to the current expansion.
However, the long-term stability of these networks is not guaranteed, and looking at the lifespan of farm equipment, this uncertainty can lead manufacturers to delay technical options. In addition, IoT solutions must be able to withstand the peculiarities of the environment (limited access to electricity, rain, dust, vibration, etc.) in order to be effectively deployed in rural areas, pointed out by rotavator manufacturers and exporter. When not taken into account, these factors significantly delay technology.
[Source: swissinfo.ch]
Maintains legacy technology
Another import requirement of the agro-industry is the ability of IoT systems to interact and communicate with legacy technology. Most of the farm equipment on sale now integrate digital capabilities, with most ships remaining digital pre-tractors, tools, and machinery that take a long time to convert. The lifespan of agricultural technology mainly exceeds the lifespan of communication technologies. The Innovator must be able to deploy on existing machines. The plug-in is deployed on traditional devices and allows game solutions to be adapted. But it also reinforces the challenge of the interoperability and standards of technology.
Agriculture 4.0 is about connectivity
In addition to the introduction of new tools and applications, the real promise of Agriculture 4.0 is the ability to remotely collect, use, and transfer data in terms of increasing productivity.
Difficulties in adoption
The need for connected ecosystems
Accurate agricultural sector development depends on an important part of the ability to collect and analyze data, annotated by straw reaper parts manufacturer. But to achieve significant results and optimize production, it is necessary to collect and confront data at a higher level than the exploitation/farm field to find patterns.
It refers to the development of data exchange mechanisms and the collaboration of many actors with diverse and conflicting interests. This is set to be a key area in the chain of data exchanges capable of generating knowledge from organizational data and establishing a business model of optimization services.
Need for standards
The development of Agriculture 4.0 requires technical standards to ensure device compatibility. In fact, when considering the lifespan of farm equipment, the criterion is to ensure that any technical option can work with new equipment, as well as with the support of manufacturers and other industries.
Standardization in this area is mainly achieved through AEF, each focusing on different aspects of the interaction (at the machine level or the level of farm administration). The new challenge of Agriculture 4.0 is to have data exchange and communication standards that connect different systems in a unified system that covers all aspects of agricultural exploitation.
