How modern technologies are changing the approach to agriculture
Updated: Nov 23
Author: Cristina Cristea
Date of publication: 16/06/2022
Despite the rather archaic stereotypes, agriculture today occupies almost a leading position in terms of introduction of advanced technologies. Let's discuss how modern farmers have thrown away shovels and rakes, picking up smartphones and tablets.
Modern technologies for agriculture: the drone
One of the most common uses of drones within the agro-industrial complex is to monitor the state of the fields. Specifically, they are used to track the placement of employees and working equipment, and to protect against other harmful animals. Creating pasture maps and predicting the quantity of crops in a particular area is also something drones are used for. In the US, drones are even used to plant seeds. The process consists of the aircraft hovering over a specified area and “shooting” the seeds into the soil with enough force to penetrate it.
All this agricultural improvement is made possible due to technology. The next step could be the improvement of drones’ battery capacity. As the capacity of their batteries rises, it'll be possible to put additional equipment on the drone’s body. With a better battery capacity, it will also be possible to extend the drones’ flights to more remote pastures. In addition, more advanced cameras could conduct aerial photography with a detailed analysis of nitrogen content, moisture, flooding and waterlogging of soils.
By using technology in their work, farmers will be able to save money. This is because they won’t have to shop for additional equipment or hire additional employees. Moreover, using drones can reduce the price of landing by 85%. What’s more, technology will save a lot of time. For example, a compact and fast device can sow 10 square meters of field in an hour, while it will take someone an entire day to do the same amount.
Genetic engineering
Disputes about the advisability of interfering with the genetic code of agricultural plants and animals have been going on for several years. However, today there's simply no other way to grow plants that are immune to viruses and insects. Thus, some scientists from the US were able to successfully synthesize insecticides of bacterial origin, making a crop immune to the attacks of the Colorado potato beetle.
Robots
The use of human labor in agricultural enterprises is no longer as profitable as before. This is because categories and subcategories of robotic machines have been introduced in the industry. Robots used in the agro-industrial complex belong to the category of “field robots”. Within the category of robots for agriculture, milking robots and autonomous tractors are the most common.
5G
Neither drones, nor smart sensors or autonomous tractors can work without fast mobile communications. Thus, if ordinary users are expecting the mass introduction of the 5G, then business customers should have an even higher interest in this technology. This means that the implementation of unmanned vehicles and remote control of equipment will take place.
All these concepts fit perfectly into the field of modern technologies for agriculture. Nowadays, thousands of sensors are used in agricultural enterprises for various purposes, including:
age of animals
soil composition
presence of diseases in plants
degree of crop readiness for collection
approach of precipitation
Artificial intelligence (AI)
In modern technologies and agriculture, AI is not any less common than in smartphones and computers. In fact, in agriculture, AI is accustomed to analyzing the appearance of plants. In particular, with the assistance of photos, AI learns to spot problems in plants and crops. What’s more, others have started to use AI in agriculture to manage transport, schedule automatic soil watering, and monitor animals’ health.