IOT technologies – delivering capabilities to address rising challenges faced by agricultural sector

There is a growing realisation that the internet of things (IOT), big data, expert systems and analytics technologies, which jointly usher in precision farming, will continue to play a significant role in expediting the deployment of ‘Agriculture 2.0’. There is also a common consensus that farmers should be equipped with innovative tools and techniques, leveraging the capabilities of digital technologies, in order to increase the efficiency of agricultural output in a more sustainable manner to meet global rising demand for food. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicted that the global population will likely reach 9.8 billion people by 2050. In order to feed the world, food production must increase by 70%.

However, farmers globally continue to face challenges with regards to rising costs of production and climate change, and South African farmers are in no way insulated from these. Much of the input inflation is driven by significant increases in the prices of fuel, fertiliser, transport and feed. A highly inflexible regulatory environment, soaring electricity prices and perpetual energy blackouts have added to the woes of South African farmers. These rising input costs place significant pressure on farming operations that could have detrimental consequences to the volume and quality of food being produced.

Climate change and water scarcity is a growing threat to agriculture since recent extreme and unpredictable weather conditions means that farmers cannot accurately plan their cultivation schedule, and intermittent droughts as well as tremendous loss of good soil due to flooding negatively impacts their agricultural planning and operations.

Another key challenge faced by the agricultural sector in South Africa is the shortage of adequate agricultural skills and training. While the sector is addressing this through initiatives that are implemented through the Agriseta, South Africa does face the challenge of a skills drain as experienced agricultural practitioners exit the sector in their move to greener pastures offshore.

While these challenges are not exhaustive, any measures aimed at relieving them, improving the ease of farming operations or mitigating agricultural risks does provide relief to the sector. The application of IOT technologies can deliver a range of benefits to farmers in the following ways:

• IOT-enabled agriculture allows farmers to monitor their product and conditions in real-time, enabling quick access to insights so that risks can be predictively and proactively managed.
• Water use can be optimised through the use of IOT sensors. Smart water management tools regulate water use on farms, without human intervention. This not only saves water, but also accurately hydrates plants, conserves resources and ensures efficient use of fertilisers.
• The collective use of drones, satellites and IOT sensors to collect local agricultural and climate data means is also a powerful agricultural tool that for farming operations planning and optimising resource usage, eg, use of fertilisers and pesticides. Precision farming using IOT relies on the data collected from diverse sensors in the field, which helps farmers accurately allocate just enough resources to within one plant.
• IOT can be used to track ambient conditions such as the humidity, gas concentration and temperature, which ultimately assists in reducing post-harvest loss within a supply chain.
• IOT applications also comprise mobile asset tracking, which utilises location sensing devices and communication functions to monitor and track commodities.
• IOT in agriculture can also include fleet management, whereby management can schedule drivers and vehicles and obtain real-time information on the location of the vehicle and traffic information systems, which provides information regarding traffic conditions by tracking the location of the vehicle.
• Saves cost by effectively using inputs.
• Better monitoring of crops and avoiding crop losses through disease or adverse weather.

One of the innovative ways that Macrocomm has applied IOT technologies in the agriculture sector is on the management of fuel costs and cost recoveries.

Their Macrocomm Fuel Track App links drivers to vehicles to fuel pumps and fuel readings. In this manner, a full audit trail is available in real-time with regards to fuel consumption in farming operations. This enables farmers to have full visibility on fuel resource utilisation and any discrepancies, which they can deal with immediately.

Perhaps one of the key differentiators of the solution is its ability to separate routes and distances that are travelled on national roads versus farm roads. This enables farmers to claim back their fuel levies for travel that occurs on farm roads on the back of an auditable report that is produced by the Macrocomm Fuel Track App.

With today’s IOT technological advancements, farmers can easily adopt smart agricultural practices that can optimise their farming practices. Not only can IOT solutions help farmers be more profitable, but they can help us adopt more sustainable farming practices as we work towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.