Abstract

Despite the perception people may have regarding the agriculture process, the reality is the
today's agriculture industry is data-centered, precise, and smarter than ever. The rapid emergence of
the internet-of-Things (IOT) based technologies redesigned almost every industry including which
moved the industry from statistical to quantitative approaches. Such revolutionary changes are
shaking the existing agriculture methods and creating new opportunities along a range of challenges.
This article highlights the potential of wireless sensors and IOT in agriculture, as well as the
challenges expected to be faced when integrating this technology with the traditional farming
practices.
IOT devices agriculture applications are analyzed in detail. What sensors are available for
specific agriculture application, like soil preparation, crop status, irrigation, insect and pest detection
are listed. How this technology helping the growers throughout the crop stages, from sowing until
harvesting, packing and transportation is explained. Furthermore, the use of unmanned aerial
vehicles for crop surveillance and other favorable applications such as optimizing crop yield is
considered in this article. State-of-art IOT based architecture and platforms used in agriculture are
also highlited wherever suitable. Finally, based on this through review, we identify current and
future trends of IOT in agriculture and highlight potential research challenges.
 LIST OF FIGURES
DESCRIPTION

FIG NO PAGE NO
1 Precision Agriculture 3
2 IOT in Smart Farming 7

3 Drone Agriculture 8

10
4 Live Stock Monitoring
11
5 Smart Green House
 INDEX
ABSTRACT I
LIST OF FIGURES II

S.NO CHAPTER NAME PAGE NO

1 INTRODUCTION 1
2 MODERN AGRICULTURE 2-4
2.1 Precision Agriculture 2
2.2 Smart Farming 4
3 WHY IOT FOR AGRICULTURE 5
4 EMERGING AGRICULTURE USECASES 6
5 APPLICATIONS 7-12
5.1 Precision Farming 7
5.2 Agricultural Drones 8
5.3 Life Stock monitoring 10
5.4 Smart Green Houses 11
6 CONCLUSIOIN 13
7 REFERENCES 14
 IOT AND ITS APPLICATIONS IN SMART AGRICULTURE

CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION

Improving farm productivity requires crop performance to be understood and forecasted

under a wide variety of environmental, soil, fertilisation, and irrigation conditions. Productivity
of a farm can be enhanced by determining which crop variety has produced the greatest yield
under similar soil, climate, fertilisation, and irrigation conditions. The same data-driven approach
to crop selection can also address climate change, resource constraints (water, labour, and energy
shortages), and societal concerns around issues such as animal welfare, fertilizers, and
environment that often impact agricultural production . According to the United Nations’ Food
and Agriculture Organization , food production must increase by 60% by 2050 to be able to feed
the growing population, expected to reach 9 billion. Increased crop productivity is urgently
needed, and it is the cornerstone of any solution for meeting food shortage and farm profitability
problems. Smart farming involves the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT)
and in particular, the Internet of Things (IoT) and related big data analytics to address these
challenges via the electronic monitoring of crops, as well as related environmental, soil,
fertilisation, and irrigation conditions. Such monitoring data can be then be analysed to identify
which crops and specific crop varieties can best meet the productivity targets of any particular
farm around the world. Crop variety identification involves the use of plant phenomics (an area
of biology concerned with the measurement of phenomes—the physical and biochemical traits of
organisms—as they change in response to genetic mutation and environmental influences .
Therefore, smart farming permits the assoication of crop data (i.e., crop performance,
environmental, soil, irrigation, and fertilisation data) and related data analysis results with
specific crop varieties (i.e., plant genes and phenotypes). The association of information will
revolutionize the way food is produced globally..

DEPT OF E.C.E, ALTS Page 1

 CHAPTER-2
MODERN AGRICULTURE

 Agriculture was the key development in the rise of human civilization, whereby farming
created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities.
 Major types: Cultivation of Land & Breeding of Animals / Animal Husbandry
 History:
 105,000 years ago: Wild grains gathering
 11,500 years ago: Planting / Domesticated grains
 10,000 years ago: Domesticated animals
 Traditional methods have been improvised often with application of new technologies and
information.
 Major Success Parameters: Improved Soil Fertility, Effective Irrigation, Advanced
Harvesting, Enhanced Livestock Yield, Crop protection
 Results in Efficient Produce to Market to Consumption
 IoT strengthens modern day agricultural goals

2.1 PRECISION AGRICULTURE:

Precision agriculture (PA), satellite farming or site specific crop management (SSCM) is a
farming management concept based on observing, measuring and responding to inter and intra-
field variability in crops. The goal of precision agriculture research is to define a decision support
system (DSS) for whole farm management with the goal of optimizing returns on inputs while
preserving resources.

Among these many approaches is a phytogeomorphological approach which ties multi-year crop

growth stability/characteristics to topological terrain attributes. The interest in the
phytogeomorphological approach stems from the fact that the geomorphology component typically
dictates the hydrology of the farm field.

The practice of precision agriculture has been enabled by the advent of GPS and GNSS. The
farmer's and/or researcher's ability to locate their precise position in a field allows for the creation
of maps of the spatial variability of as many variables as can be measured (e.g. crop yield, terrain
features/topography, organic matter content, moisture levels, nitrogen levels, pH, EC, Mg, K, and
others.
 Similar data is collected by sensor arrays mounted on GPS-equipped combine harvesters. These
arrays consist of real-time sensors that measure everything from chlorophyll levels to plant water
status, along with multispectral imagery. This data is used in conjunction with satellite imagery by
variable rate technology (VRT) including seeders, sprayers, etc. to optimally distribute resources.
However, recent technological advances have enabled the use of real-time sensors directly in soil ,
which can wirelessly transmit data without the need of human presence.

FIG 1:Precision Agriculture in India.

Precision agriculture has also been enabled by unmanned aerial vehicles like the DJ
Phantom which are relatively inexpensive and can be operated by novice pilots. These agricultural
drones can be equipped with hyperspectral or RGB cameras to capture many images of a field that
can be processed using photogrammetric methods to create orthophotos and NDVI maps. These
drones are capable of capturing imagery for a variety of purposes and with several metrics such as
elevation and Vegetative Index (with NDVI as an example). This imagery is then turned into maps
which can be used to optimize crop inputs such as water, fertilizer or chemicals such as herbicides
and growth regulators through variable rate applications
2.2 INTENSIVE FARMING:

Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming and industrial agriculture as

opposed to extensive farming, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with
higher levels of input and output per cubic unit of agricultural land area. It is characterized by a
low fallow ratio, higher use of inputs such as capital and labour, and higher crop yields per unit
land area.

Most commercial agriculture is intensive in one or more ways. Forms that rely heavily

on industrial methods are often called industrial agriculture, which is characterised
by innovations designed to increase yield. Techniques include planting multiple crops per year,
reducing the frequency of fallow years, and improving cultivars. It also involves increased use
of fertilizers, plant growth regulators, and pesticides and mechanised agriculture, controlled by
increased and more detailed analysis of growing conditions, including weather, soil, water, weeds,
and pests. This system is supported by ongoing innovation in agricultural machinery and farming
methods, genetic technology, techniques for achieving economies of scale, logistics, and data
collection and analysis technology. Intensive farms are widespread in developed nations and
increasingly prevalent worldwide. Most of the meat, dairy products, eggs, fruits,
and vegetables available in super market produced by such farms.
 CHAPTER 3
WHY IOT IS USED FOR AGRICULTURE?

An expected growth of population to 8 billion by 2025 (FAO - Food and Agriculture

Organization Prediction).

IOT techniques enhance the produce quantity and quality with reduced cost and precision.

 Effects of climate change will have greater impact on agriculture (IPCC - UN Panel on
climate change prediction).

 IOT based methods provide improved irrigation techniques and help decide the right
quantity and right time for water.

 Various studies have indicated improvisation of agriculture by modern techniques over

past century.

 IOT gives a major leap to this with direct benefit of technology and information.

 Automation has been the main driver in meeting the rising demands in agriculture.

 IOT drives automation to next level with sophisticated decision making by use of
connectivity
 CHAPTER-4
EMERGING AGRICULTURE
USECASES
 Monitoring
 Basic cameras for monitoring the field / livestock.
 Intelligent cameras – motion detection with buzz / alarm, smart fishery.
 Aerial Monitoring systems using drone
 Irrigation
 Remotely operated irrigation systems
 Smart irrigation controllers (Sensors / Forecasts / Plant-care information)
 Soil moisture / leaf wetness / Temperature based automation
 Automation
 Aerial planting techniques to sow seeds
 Pest detection using Infrared sensors
 Crop protection using Early prediction systems with data crunching
 Harvesting predictions using customized crop monitoring
 IR camera and heat sensor based night-predator protection
 Cattle tracking using GPS based sensors
 An “Uber” like app for Agri vehicles and equipment
 Pregnant Cow Monitoring using tail sensors
 …and many more
 CHAPTER-5
APPLICATIONS
5.1 PRECISION FARMING:

Precision farming is a process or a practice that makes the farming procedure more accurate
and controlled for raising livestock and growing of crops. The use of IT and items like sensors,
autonomous vehicles, automated hardware, control systems, robotics, etc in this approach are key
components.
Precision agriculture in the recent years has become one of the most famous applications of
IoT in agricultural sector and a vast number of organizations have started using this technique
around the world.
The products and services offered by IoT systems include soil moisture probes, VRI
optimization, virtual optimizer PRO, and so on. VRI (Variable Rate Irrigation) optimization is a
process that maximizes the profitability on irrigated crop fields with soil variability, thereby
improving yields and increasing water use efficiency.

FIG 2: IOT in smart Farming

5.2 DRONE AGRICULTURE:
Agricultural drones are a very good example of IoT applications in Agriculture. Agriculture
industries today, have become one of the major industries where drones can incorporate. Two
types of drones, that is, ground-based and aerial-based drones are being incorporated in
agriculture in many ways such as, for crop health assessment, irrigation, planting, and soil & field
analysis.
Let’s See 6 Important IoT Consumer Applications

FIG 3: Drone Agriculture.

The benefits that the usage of drones brings to the table include, ease of use, time-saving,
crop health imaging, integrated GIS mapping, and the ability to increase yields. The drone
technology will give a high-tech makeover to the agriculture industry by making use of strategy
and planning based on real-time data collection and processing.
 FIG : IOT in Agriculture.

The farmers through drones can enter the details of what field they want to survey. Select an
altitude or ground resolution from which they what data of the fields. From the data collected by
the drone,
useful insights can be drawn on various factors such as plant counting and yield prediction, plant
health indices, plant height measurement, canopy cover mapping, nitrogen content in wheat,
drainage mapping, and so on. The drone collects data and images that are thermal, multispectral
and visual during the flight and then lands at the same location it took off initially.
5.3 LIVE STOCK MONITORING:

IOT applications help farmers to collect data regarding the location, well-being, and health of their
cattle. This information helps them in identifying the condition of their livestock. Such as, finding
animals that are sick so, that they can separate from the herd, preventing the spread of the disease
to the entire cattle. The feasibility of ranchers to locate their cattle with the help of IoT based
sensors helps in bringing down labor costs by a substantial amount.

FIG 4:Live Stock Monitoring

One example of an IOT system in use by a company is JMB North America. Which is an
organization that provides cow monitoring solutions to cattle producers? Out of the many solutions
provided, one of the solutions is to help the cattle owners observe their cows that are pregnant and
about to give birth. From them, a battery that is sensor powered is expelled when its water breaks.
An information is then sent to the herd manager or the rancher. The sensor thus enables farmers .
5.4 SMART GREEN HOUSES:
Greenhouse farming is a technique that enhances the yield of crops, vegetables, fruits etc.
Greenhouses control environmental parameters in two ways; either through manual intervention or a
proportional control mechanism. However, since manual intervention has disadvantages such as
production loss, energy loss, and labor cost, these methods are less effective. A smart greenhouse
through IoT embedded systems not only monitors intelligently but also controls the climate. Thereby
eliminating any need for human intervention.
Different sensors that measure the environmental parameters according to the plant requirement are
used for controlling the environment in a smart greenhouse. Then, a cloud server create for remotely
accessing the system when it contains insects.

FIG 5:Smart Green Houses

 Internet of Things Applications in Agriculture
FIG smart home garden

Inside the greenhouse, the cloud server helps in the processing of data and applies a control action.
This design provides optimal and cost-effective solutions to the farmers with minimal and almost no
manual intervention.
Let’s Explore 4 Main Components of IoT System
One example of this is Aluminum Greenhouses which is an Agri-Tech greenhouse organization and
uses technologies and IoT for providing services. It builds modern and affordable greenhouses by
using IoT sensors that are solar powered. The greenhouse state and water consumption can supervise
with these sensors through sending SMS alerts to the farmer with an online portal.

The sensors in the IoT system in the greenhouse provide information on temperature, pressure,
humidity, light levels.

So, this was all about IoT Applications in Agriculture Tutorial. Hope you like our explanation unit
allows medics to conduct remote triage of casualties to help them respond more rapidly and safely.
 CHAPTER-6
CONCLUSION

Hence, today we learned how agriculture fields are benefitted from IOT systems. We

covered the different IOT Applications in Agriculture and how they are made use of. We will learn

more about IOT in detail in the upcoming tutorials. Furthermore, stay tuned to learn more interesting

things that you can do with this technology.

The primary favorable position is that the framework's activity can be changed by the

circumstance (crops, climate conditions, soil and so on). By actualizing this rural, green terrains,

parks, gardens, fairways can be flooded and this is less expensive and effective when contrasted with

other kind of robotization framework. In vast scale applications, high affectability sensors can be

executed for huge territories of farming grounds. Likewise with this sort of execution we can almost

certainly decrease the dirt disintegration and wastage of water.

 CHAPTER-7
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