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.
Smart crop monitoring system: How does it work?
Crop monitoring’s 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 crop monitoring and related topics.
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 crop monitoring 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 crop monitoring services through merging field visits with quantitative and qualitative assessment and agriculture remote crop monitoring systems.
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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