Automation in Agricultural Equipment and Technology

 Automation in Agricultural Equipment and Technology

Day by day the world is changing. The population is also growing at an alarming rate. Currently there are 7.7 billion people in the world. It is estimated to be risen up to 9.7 billion people by the year 2050. To meet the demands and the needs of this rising population, every industry in the world should make necessary developments and adjustments in their strategies, equipment and technologies, especially the agriculture industry. The agriculture industry is under immense pressure to produce enough food for this rapidly growing population with limited amount of resources along with other difficulties such as labour shortage. The production efficiency of farms should be increased by at least 70% from the current level to face these challenges. Hence the automation of agricultural equipment and technologies has been adapted by many farmers in the recent past especially in developed countries. This concept is mainly associated with ‘Smart Farming’.

Modern day farmers are quickly adapting to new technologies. With the help of advanced research almost all the sectors of agriculture is capable of using automated equipment in the relevant and required processes. The first step of growing a crop is seeding. With the automated equipment and technology seeding can be done using various methods. There are machine that perform the task of seeding with impressive levels of accuracy and efficiency. They are capable of planting the seed at the precise location. These machines have now been adapted to perform in any landscape including meadows, row seeding and intercropping cultures. Not only that but machines of this type of accuracy and precision is also used in weeding. Drone technology can also be used in seeding seeds in the land. The drones are capable of shooting the seeds into the ground with the required amount of speed, pressure and space. Drone technology is also used in forestation and reforestation projects. DroneSeed is one example of a method of rapid reforestation after wildfires.

The Agrobot is a very popular robot used in farms for harvesting. It is made of 24 robotic manipulators which operate from a flexible, mobile platform. Harvesting is the most challenging sector in agriculture as it determines the quality that the consumers require. This machine is capable of harvesting several crops such as strawberries with the required amount of quality. This is truly a game-changing invention in agriculture. In addition to that there are now autonomous tractors in the field. These are the same old tractors but impressively advanced with driver-less technology and implement control. These allow farmers to take care of large fields without having to exhaust themselves.

Automation of irrigation technologies has also proven to be very useful in modern day agriculture. Automatic irrigation consists of two parts. One is Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) and the other is special sensors. These special sensors along with more advanced IoT sensors are capable of detecting and monitoring the moisture level of the soil. Then they send these information and analysis to the smart device they are connected. The farmer can then decide the amount of water and the time the crops require water using that information. This technology is yet to be developed further as it still requires human assistance.
Drone technology plays a great role in agriculture. It is used for various applications such as monitoring the field, applying fertilizer, herbicides and other chemicals faster and more accurately. The farmer can easily monitor his field at the comfort of his own with drone technology. These drones supply not only the imagery details but also the infrared details of the field. This makes farming so much easier for the farmers. This also helps the farmers to detect any issues with their cultivation at the earliest stage possible.

There are so many benefits of automating equipment and technology in agriculture. It helps to make agriculture more eco-friendly. With the help of automation chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides can be applied with great precision reducing the ecological footprint with technologies such as site specific application software. It also helps to reduce the green-house gas emission. In addition to that now the farmers also have a solution to the farm labour shortage. The farmers are now also capable of tackling the dynamic customer preferences easily. The automation process is beneficial for the customers as well. They can now consume more sustainably produced organic food. There are now apps which enable the customers to observe the organic growth of a certain product from their home by adopting a tree of the field. Not only that but now the products are also delivered to customers faster allowing them to enjoy fresher products.

There are also certain downsides to the automation of agricultural technologies and equipment. These new technologies can only be adapted by rich and large scale farmers. The poor farmers have lack of access to these new technologies resulting in unfavourable conditions in today’s competitive market. These automation technologies cost a lot of money. They require constant development and maintenance. The researches regarding these technologies and equipment also require huge amounts of money.

Overall it is evident that the automation in agricultural technologies and equipment has both advantages and disadvantages. However to address the issues that are caused by the changing world and the growing population, it is necessary to develop and apply automation in agriculture. With the help of automation technologies, let’s try to make a better world for the future generation.