A remote crop monitoring system in precision agriculture refers to the use of various technologies and tools to monitor and manage crops from a distance. This approach leverages data collection, analysis, and communication technologies to make informed decisions about crop health, irrigation, fertilization, and overall farm management.
Farming is not left behind in the 21st century where everything is going digital. As you read this article, several farmers spread across the globe are already using tech to perform several tasks in their fields such as monitoring plant humidity, soil conditions, general health, temperatures, and even many more the use of sensors.
By embracing technology, farmers are enjoying the benefits of having accurate statistics as compared to the old days when they used guesses works and intuitions to make choices. This helps them in making better judgments that result in increased harvests.
What is crop monitoring system?
Crop monitoring refers to the process of systematically observing, assessing, and collecting data about crops throughout their growth cycle.
It involves regular and systematic observation of crops to gather information about their health, growth, and development.
Its goal is to make informed decisions regarding crop management practices, optimize resource utilization, and maximize yields. It typically involves the following activities:
- Visual Inspection
- Phenological Observations
- Soil Monitoring
- Weather Monitoring
- Sensor-Based Monitoring
- Data Analysis
By monitoring crops, farmers can proactively address problems, optimize resource allocation, and make informed decisions to improve overall crop health, yield, and profitability. It is an essential component of precision agriculture, enabling farmers to practice targeted and sustainable crop management.
Smart crop monitoring system: How does it work?
Its main goal is to ensure that farming becomes easier and more profitable as compared to traditional methods. From displaying data about the fields all the way to weather forecasts, below is all that you may want to know about remote crop monitoring and related topics.
A smart crop monitoring system incorporates various technologies to collect, analyze, and utilize data for efficient crop management. Here’s a breakdown of how it typically works:
1. Sensor Deployment
The system begins by deploying sensors in the field. These sensors can measure parameters such as soil moisture, temperature, humidity, nutrient levels, and light intensity.
They may also include weather sensors to capture data on rainfall, wind speed, and solar radiation. The sensors are strategically placed throughout the field to gather representative data.
2. Data Collection
The deployed sensors continuously collect data from the field. This can be done using wired or wireless connections.
Wireless sensors are commonly used as they provide flexibility and ease of deployment. The collected data is sent to a central system for further processing and analysis.
3. Data Transmission
Wireless sensors transmit the collected data to a central hub or gateway. This can be done using various wireless communication technologies such as cellular networks, Wi-Fi, or dedicated radio systems. The data transmission can be in real-time or at regular intervals depending on the system’s configuration.
4. Data Storage and Processing
The collected data is stored in a database for further analysis. Advanced data processing techniques, including machine learning algorithms and statistical models, are applied to the data to extract meaningful insights and patterns. This analysis helps identify correlations, trends, and anomalies in the crop conditions.
5. Decision Support and Alerts
Based on the analyzed data, the system provides decision support to farmers or agronomists. It generates alerts and notifications regarding critical events, such as soil moisture levels dropping below a threshold or the presence of pests or diseases.
These alerts are delivered through web-based dashboards, mobile applications, or email/SMS notifications, enabling timely interventions.
6. Visualization and Reporting
The system presents the analyzed data in a user-friendly manner through visualizations and reports. Graphs, charts, and maps are often used to convey information about crop health, growth patterns, and environmental conditions. This helps farmers interpret the data easily and make informed decisions.
7. Automation and Control
In some cases, it can be integrated with automated irrigation systems, fertigation systems, or machinery.
Based on the collected data and analysis, the system can automatically control irrigation schedules, adjust nutrient application rates, or activate pest management measures.
This integration allows for real-time, data-driven decision-making and precise control over crop management practices.
The ultimate goal of a smart crop monitoring system is to optimize resource utilization, improve crop productivity, and reduce costs by providing farmers with accurate and timely information for decision-making. By leveraging technology, such systems enable more efficient and sustainable crop management practices in modern agriculture.
The importance of a remote crop monitoring system
Among the most important tasks that are always done for good yields is the monitoring of crops. Since plants are constantly monitored, it ensures that they grow in the best conditions, and in case of any anomalies, it is corrected on time hence reducing the devastating impending impact.
As a farmer or agriculture enthusiast, it is worth noting that it is currently a must-do for one to expect better massive harvests and those that are of higher quality since most of the drawbacks are settled early enough.
Since monitoring crops is one of the pillar requirements for a good harvest, one needs to go for special training. Special training doesnβt mean one needs to hold a master’s or bachelor’s degree but only needs to understand how to coordinate, monitor and even weigh the obtained results. Through this, you will be able to make better decisions based on accurate diagnosis and later best quality yields.
When choosing to monitor your crops, you need to know that apart from prevention of infestations and spread of pests, diseases and even weeds are always under control hence no devastating effects that lower the performance and even the quality of the final products.
Are you aware that crops are always exposed to strange threats yearly due to mutations and transformations in the biological components of the pests hence usually choosing one similar method of treating them means you are mistaken and need to change tactics every time?
For that reason, monitoring crops is perceived as a serious task that needs more responsibility and one that should not be degraded.
Whenever one is monitoring fruit crops such as pears and even apples, when using an Integrated Pest Management Programme, it is advisable not only to track changes in trees but also to check on the weather in the area that affects them.
This enables you to have a list of possible pests that may pose a threat to the growth of trees. Using systematic visual monitoring of the orchard block will work whenever you want to reduce the cost and your time from planting season to the harvesting season.
Climate and pests
The questionable part when analyzing the influence of climate is simply that some pests can feed on it and later be toxic to agents to crops so fast. Basically in agriculture, many farmers always lack awareness hence noticing when it is too late when their crops are already massively infested by pests.
The better part of this is that pests always do react predictably to the climate hence a perfect strategy can be hatched to avoid another pest attack and also prevent them in the future.
Despite monitoring being done more frequently, vegetable and fruit farmers always get to know the presence of pests or any threat a little late. This shows how important it is to monitor climatic factors that eventually turn out to be earlier signs of the emergence and pest infestation.
Block crop monitoring
Many ways can be used to monitor crops, and one of them is through visual monitoring using blocks that enable you to analyze trees that have similar characteristics based on their variety, age, and, even physical condition.
The idea behind visual monitoring is to have blocks that act as signs and those that can be studied like they were a unit and not separately since it is a way that is used by several farmers across the globe and that horticultural experts always have limited time for them to review each of the blocks arranged in the field.
Certain attention needs to be paid during the selection of the most appropriate block. This is because the block that is chosen needs to have all the history of the pests so that the best treatment and prevention can be applied to protect the growth of other trees.
You do not have to have large equipment, tools, and even complex methods to monitor your crops. One of the best ways to go is simply to do a meticulous and extensive visual examination that enables you to notice the different types of pests present in the trees.
This can be always completed using a common lens, however, experts will always use more complex equipment such as a binocular microscope. This enables them to count and even identify mites and thrips.
Temperature of crops
For one to accurately measure the temperature when monitoring crops, he or she can choose to use a simple thermometer after finding out about simple information. Besides that, you may also choose to use a maximum to a minimum thermometer that is very common among rural suppliers and record extra information.
It is also worth noting that the thermometer needs to be placed on the orchard and ensure that it is not exposed to direct sunlight. You may also add a data logger to record more accurate weather information.
For data loggers, you may also choose to use those that have the potential of measuring the temperature, rain, humidity, and even the humidity of the leaves.
For you to put aside trees that will not be studied with those in the blocks that will act as indicators, for you to be able to differentiate them, you simply need to mark them using acrylic paint or even adhesive tape.
Application of an Integrated Pest Management vouches for selecting and marking flowers, buds, and fruits randomly to monitor each one of the trees.
After about the duration of one to two weeks, at the time that the fruit is developing, farmers need to spend ten to twenty minutes for every two and a half acres strictly managing the fruits, flowers, and buds that are marked searching for any signs that may show the presence of one or even more pests in the crop.
Whenever a pest is found in the crops, it needs to be recorded fast and also in a detailed way in the log made exactly for this kind of data.
Conclusion
All our expert team of agronomists are professionals in a range of branches of agriculture and are also capable of providing monitoring services through merging field visits with quantitative and qualitative assessment and agriculture remote crop monitoring system.
All these innovative systems are assessments that are focused on a wide range of activities that carefully monitor crop developments, gathering data and information that is related to the area.
This data is then carefully analyzed by our professional team and then noted in a final report that enables them to mention and evaluate major factors and factors that are capable of affecting the productivity of the crops.
Based on these results GeoPard is then able to give you an estimated time for harvesting, and also crop yield. This enables clients to smoothly monitor their crops through the recent satellite imagery. Weight data layers in a given place without using a given facility.
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