Scientists believe that in the future, machines and robots will be able to completely replace manual human labor in agriculture. Even now, technologies, including those based on the Internet of Things, help to automate and control processes on farms, speed up information processing and solve specific production problems. We tell you what smart devices and IoT solutions are used in different countries today.
Israel: making the desert fruitful
A country seemingly not designed for agriculture is making phenomenal progress in the agricultural sector. On just over 20 thousand square kilometers, most of which is desert, farmers in Israel grow vegetables and fruits. It allows not only to satisfy the domestic needs, but also to export goods – the citrus and tropical fruits are supplied from here to nearly 40 countries, including about 20 European countries. In the total volume of exports of crop products accounts for about 3%.
The deficit of fresh water arising because of a small amount of precipitation makes it necessary and widespread use of drip irrigation systems. Israel was one of the first countries in the world to use this technology. Plants receive a strictly necessary amount of moisture, and special sensors that collect data on the state of the soil in the plots of land monitor this.
The development of the Israeli agricultural company Roots – smart pipes that are laid in the soil. The RZTO (Root Zone Temperature Optimization) system calculates and sets the optimal soil temperature for each plot. Root zone pipes heat the root zone in the winter and cool it during the summer, maintaining a relatively stable temperature. The pipes, which run over the surface of the soil, are also used to condense moisture from the air and irrigate the plants. According to the company’s latest data, smart pipes are already being used in greenhouses in the Jordan Valley, the Sharon Plain, the agricultural communes of Karmia and Ein Yahav, when growing cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, melons, basil and lettuce. After introducing the technology, yields of the different crops increased from 10 to 66%.
Japan: launching cows into the clouds
Only 15% of Japan’s land area is suitable for farming. To compensate for the scarce natural resources, the country relies on the development of smart technologies that increase farmers’ productivity. Automatics, sensors, and sophisticated technology are used in many areas of agriculture, including livestock farming, which is still very underdeveloped. With the help of the Internet of Things, farmers monitor the physical condition of cows and even their moods.
The system developed by Fujitsu, one of Japan’s largest IT corporations, is called GyuHo SaaS (“walking cow” in Japanese) or Connected Cow (“connected cows”). The animal wears a special bracelet that counts steps taken during the day. Data on herd activity is sent to the cloud, analyzed and transmitted to the farmer’s smartphone or computer. The information is updated every hour, so specialists can adjust feeding, milking and sleeping of the animals. Disease in “connected cows” can be detected at an early stage, because the animal that is unwell will move less.
But the main task of the smart bracelet is to calculate the favorable period for conception. The sensor allows you to do this with a high degree of probability, because during the heat period the number of steps taken by the cow increases many times. As a result, according to the developers of the system, the success rate of artificial insemination increases from 44% to 90%. The system also predicts the delivery date and allows remote monitoring of the process.
The system was actively introduced in Japan in 2013. About 40 thousand cows were connected to the system. According to Forbes, by 2017 Fujitsu technology was used on 64 farms in Japan, Korea, Poland, Romania and Turkey.
Norway: Getting a health card for every salmon
Norway is one of the main suppliers of salmon to the world market. Fish farms are gradually replacing commercial salmon harvesting here. The main enemy of fish farmers is the crustacean Lepeophtheirus salmonis, known as salmon louse. The parasite multiplies on the skin of salmon, causing serious damage to fish health and huge losses to businesses.
Trying to solve the problem, Norway has been developing an on-farm fish detection system since 2016. The technology is now being tested at Cermaq Group, one of Norway’s largest salmon and trout farms. In order to identify salmon infected with the parasite, each individual is scanned using sensors and 3D cameras. The system differentiates fish based on unique spots around the eyes, mouth and gills, and each individual caught in the lens receives its own virtual health card. This allows specialists to constantly monitor the health status and weight gain of each individual and can spot in time if a fish is sick and send it to quarantine.