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Data analytics in farming: still an infant industry?
In smart farming, automation has always been a step ahead of data analytics – GPS-guided tractors or milking robots provide benefits in terms of comfort, time-saving, seeding or harvesting accuracy. When it comes to reaping the benefits of sensor data collection, however, things are more arduous.
Smart monitoring of farmed pigs: state-of-play
ICT-enabled livestock farming technologies have long been on the shelves. Unlike dairy or beef farming, however, uptake in the pig industry, which represents more than half (55%) of the meat produced in the EU, has remained modest.
Broadband internet: the new infrastructure frontier?
While high-speed wireless internet is becoming a reality for most, many farmers still grapple with sluggish connections to the world wide web. Although cellular telecommunication networks are relatively easy set up in comparison to physical ones, such as fiber optics, reliable broadband internet access remains lacking in many peripheral regions, making this one of the biggest hurdles in the way of the smart farming revolution.
Japan: tech entrepreneurs to reverse farming decline?
Progresses on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) and the Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU may spell the end of farming in Japan as we know it. With a rapidly ageing population and a lack of economies of scales due to the small size of the mostly family-owned farming plots, the Japanese agricultural sector needs to reinvigorate itself if it is to stand a free-market shock in the coming years. This is where smart farming comes in.
IoF2020 takes digital agriculture to the European Parliament
The Internet of Food & Farm 2020 (IoF2020) project was featured in the ‘Future of Farming’ event hosted by MEPs Anthea McIntyre and Jan Huitema at the European Parliament on Wednesday, 27 September 2017. The event gathered around 50 experts, end-users and policy-makers with an interest in precision farming and innovative IoT technologies.
Review: arable farming applications of drones
Initially developed by the U.S. military, drones are becoming increasingly mainstream: more than two million were sold last year alone for recreational purposes in the U.S. When it comes to commercial applications, these span remote inspection, security services, special delivery, insurance claims and even golfing. But drones also represent the latest trend in the smart farming revolution. In specific, besides their use in cattle herding, drones, formally termed remotely piloted aerial systems (RPAS), come in handy in arable farming.
Why IoT is reinventing plant fertilization
Better fertilizer provision across the world has enabled farmers to boost yields and save millions of people from starvation. Despite their contribution to the agricultural boom known as the “Green Revolution”, fertilizers are increasingly under the spotlight of environmentalists and policy-makers.
Study: NL agriculture has lowest ecological footprint
According to a study by the Dutch bank ABN AMRO, the Netherland’s agricultural sector has the world’s lowest environmental footprint, a concept used to measure the surface of productive land, water ecosystem and the share of the Earth’s carbon-absorbing potential to sustain human activities, including food production.
Global warming: ICT-enabled irrigation becomes a no-brainer
In Mediterranean agriculture, periodic water scarcity makes precision irrigation essential for the good management of grapes and vegetable production. With South-Western Europe set to face increasingly uncertain precipitation patterns, coupled with a rising demand for water, precision irrigation will play an increasingly important role in viticulture.
