Farming is one of the oldest spheres of human activity. From the moment when a primitive man took a stick in his hands to cultivate the land, the technology significantly influenced agriculture. The invention of the plow, the wheel, the domestication of animals, the production of metal tools, mechanisms – all this gradually led to better results. But the last decades have become a real breakthrough, and modern technologies in farming are already being spoken of as revolutionary. What exactly is driving change in farming around the world?
Digital Technologies as the Progress Engine

Digital Technologies as the Progress Engine

Agriculture has already gone far beyond what we know as automation. Control systems with artificial intelligence and satellite communications have become part of self-sufficient machines. Real-time sensors provide data on machine activity and the environment, cloud-based data warehouses complement the exchange of data between machines, closing the latest information gaps.

The main catalyst for the evolution in the agro-industrial complex today is the Internet of Things. A combination of technologies in the field of data analysis, in the development of sensors and auto-steering systems technology, as well as connected network solutions, control systems, platforms and applications that take the methods of growing plants and animals to a new level. These are projects from the field of the Internet of Things in the agro-industrial complex. The introduction of IoT in crop production, as well as automated steering for tractors, systems for remote data collection from fields (humidity, temperature, mineralization), technologies for differentiated fertilization based on data from unmanned aerial vehicles, monitoring of agricultural machinery, irrigation management, planning and forecasting.

The massive adoption of digitalization and the Internet of Things in agriculture promises to transform the industry least affected by information technology (IT) into a high-tech business through explosive growth in productivity and reduction of non-productive costs.

Some Facts About Digitalization in Farming in Figures

  • According to a 2015 survey of American farmers, agrochemical soil analysis (98% of respondents use it in their work), GPS steering systems for tractors (60%) and the use of satellite mapping (30%) became the leaders among digital solutions implemented in the farming business.
  • The research perspectives for precision farming are very attractive. Experts predict an increase in average crop yields in the world by 70% by 2050.
  • Digital technologies in agriculture with an integrated approach can reduce the cost of fertilizers, feed, fuel and other costs by almost 20% right now.

Main Directions of Agricultural Digitalization

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There are lots of perspective directions in the IoT and precision farming technologies that will impact productivity greatly. We’ll count some of them.

  • Field monitoring is the most valuable sphere of digitalization. It includes plants health monitoring, farming scouting using high-speed Internet and mobile devices, productivity monitoring and weather forecasts. In this field, there are also soil analyses, diseases, pests and weeds diagnostics and irrigation / melioration technologies that are developing greatly.
  • Data managing sphere. Creating digital platforms to manage all techniques in farming is essential when talking about precision farming. Such platforms both local and cloud platforms can help much in planning and analysing data from multiple technical devices or machines.
  • Automated herbicide and seed spreading is not a new idea. But using drones, IoT techniques and hyperspectral cameras it can be done more precisely.
  • Agrotechnical automation and digitalization. If robots are still a rarity on modern farms, then automated steering for tractors, harvesters or cultivators is a reality. This field includes robotic algorithms to get rid of weeds, GPS navigation and auto steering, telematics, seeding automation to optimize seed consumption.

Making a little conclusion, let’s transfer all the merits digitalization has in farming. The first one is increasing labor productivity in agriculture and reduce the cost of production, increasing the profitability of the business of agricultural producers by accelerating the delivery of products, increasing the level of mechanization and automation. It also helps production with countable and predictable characteristics.
And, of course, it is a conscious approach to the rational use of natural resources and maintaining them in balance.

If you are interested in embedding digital technologies in your agricultural business, it is the right time to start using them right now. We offer the most logical and comfortable in use GPS auto steering for sale to make your agricultural vehicle park modernized.

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