Different Smart sensors and Its impact to Agriculture

“Agriculture plays an essential role in the growth and development of the world, It

is the backbone of every country and economy” (Pradeep Tomar). Agriculture is the

primitive and crucial occupation for the people since 10,000 years ago. How has this

innovated since then until now? Accelerated growth in the global population in the last

few decades has brought heavy stress on the limited food reserves of every country.

Erratic weather change, sporadic rainfall coupled with excess demand for food has

impacted the food supply chain in the worst way possible and have shown the limit

points of sustaining the food needs of billions of people globally. Is there a way to

improve agriculture in order to provide enough food for the growing population around

the world? To overcome this problems in agriculture, new technologies are emerging

that play a pivotal role in developing smart agriculture based on IoT technology by using

smart sensors. What is smart sensors? In what ways do the smart sensors enhance

agricultural production?

Smart sensors are devices that take information from a physical environment and

use embedded microprocessors and wireless communication to monitor, examine, and

maintain various systems. They have the ability to collect environmental data more

accurately with less erroneous noise. Crop production, animal tracking, soil moisture

monitoring, remote water tank level monitoring, temperature and humidity sensing,

farmland security, monitoring of environmental conditions, and equipment tracking are

all improved by smart agriculture. This aids farmers in remote property monitoring and

protection. The innovative method for the smart agriculture system uses smart sensors

that are Internet of Things (IoT)-based. An IoT-based smart agriculture system

comprises of a camera with a microcontroller, WiFi, a variety of interfacing sensing

nodes for service, internet service, smart remote devices, or computer systems with the

internet that monitor the functioning of sensor nodes.

According to Aishwarya Saxena, an Indian from her published Article entitled

Sensors Defining Smart Farming (2022), there are 5 different sensors that are

commonly used in Agriculture. These include Optical sensors, location sensors,

mechanical sensors, electrochemical sensors and dielectric soil moisture sensors.

Optical sensors is used in agriculture to evaluate and anticipate soil and crop qualities

by evaluating the amount of reflected light on the growing sections of the crop in real-

time. Optical sensors, as the name implies, allow analytical tools to either raise or

decrease nitrogen dosage for weaker plants, while managing nitrogen dosage for

healthy plants. Following is the location sensors, as the name implies, location sensors

detect the range, distance, and even the height of any point within the needed area. For

this function, they typically rely on GPS satellites. Another type is mechanical sensors,

which use resistive forces to measure the resistance provided by the soil. These

sensors employ load cells or strain gauges to assess how much force the roots are

exerting to absorb water. This information is then used to optimize tilling techniques and

water intake. Next commonly used smart sensor is electrochemical sensors, this

monitors the pH level of the soil and maximizes profitability in sustainable and eco-

friendly farming. This type of sensor is typically used in monitoring and analyzing soil

quality. It takes measures to alter the pH level or continues the same practices to

maintain the current level for the next phases in the lifecycle of any crop, whereas

dielectric soil moisture sensors measure the moisture levels in the soil. These are
commonly known as moisture sensors, and they are used in conjunction with rain check

spots throughout the farm to monitor soil moisture conditions when vegetation levels are

low.

Indeed, smart sensors has a great impact in Agriculture, This are very useful in

farming because they optimize food production, enabling higher yields with less inputs,

increasing farmer profitability, assisting in the fight against food insecurity, and

enhancing the sustainability of agriculture. According to Dr. Jacek Skudlarski, an expert

of smart Agriculture from the interview answering the question, how can he imagine the

agriculture in 2030? He answered, “Currently (2020) 12% of the worlds farms use

intelligent technologies and this is an upward trend. As population grows and climate

changes in the next 10 years, the scale of automation and digitization in agriculture

production will be much bigger, helping farmers to manage food production”. Through

smart sensors we can enhance agricultural production. With consistently utilizing smart

sensors, I see a bright future for agriculture. Through the innovation in smart farming we

can assure that the next generation will no longer problem the issue about food

sustainability. Be a smart farmer!