Best Smart Farming Techniques

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Smart-farming-in-kenya is transforming nearly every aspect of our modern lives, and agriculture is no exception. The produce on your table tonight will arrive faster, fresher and more cost-effective thanks to cutting-edge technology in agriculture. Agricultural technology will be increasingly computerized in the coming decades!

Is Smart Farming The Future Of Farming - Smart Farming in Kenya

Smart farming and IoT-based agriculture are laying the foundation for a “third green revolution,” which refers to the combined application of information and communication technologies. This includes devices such as Smart  equipment, IoT sensors and actuators, geo-positioning systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and robots.

IoT technology helps better control agricultural processes to reduce production risks and improve the predictability of production results, helping farmers better plan and distribute produce. Data on the exact batches of crops and the amount of crops to harvest can help farmers reduce labor and waste, for example.

Additionally, in many industries, including agriculture, service providers and mobile operators are modernizing their network infrastructure, pushing network resources to the limit and integrating long distances through technologies such as small cells and massive MIMO to prepare for launch. of 5G. .

Why Do We Need Smart Agriculture - Smart Farming in Kenya

Improve Crop Health. Optical smart farming technologies allow farmers to identify crop diseases and other problems earlier.

Reducing The Ecological Footprint Of Agriculture. Smart farming systems can reduce the use of harmful chemicals and carbon emissions.

Help Feed The Growing World Population. UN data suggests that the world's population will increase from 7.7 billion in 2020 to 9.7 billion in 2050.

Ensuring food security under climate change scenarios. More efficient smart agriculture helps adapt to climate change while maintaining production levels.

Achieve higher yields and lower operating costs. Smart farms achieve higher yields (by 1.75%), lower water consumption (by 8%) and lower energy costs ($17 to $23 per hectare).

Benefits of Smart Farming - Smart Farming in Kenya

By making agriculture more connected and smart, precision agriculture helps reduce overall costs and improves product quality and quantity, agricultural sustainability and consumer experience. Increased production control leads to better cost management and reduced waste. The ability to track abnormalities in crop growth or livestock health, for example, helps eliminate the risk of yield loss. In addition, automation increases efficiency. With smart devices, multiple processes can be activated at the same time and automated services improve product quality and volume, by better controlling production processes.

Smart farming systems also enable careful management of demand forecasting and just-in-time delivery of goods to market to reduce wastage. Smart farming focuses on managing the supply of land and, depending on its condition, targeting the right growth parameters, e.g. moisture, fertilizer or material content, to ensure the production of the right crop that is demanded. . The types of precision farming systems implemented depend on the use of business management software. Control systems manage sensor inputs, providing remote information for procurement and decision support, as well as automating machinery and equipment to respond to emerging issues and production support .

Soil and Water Sensors - Smart Farming in Kenya

Effective irrigation management can improve yields, improve grain quality, conserve water and energy, and reduce nutrient leaching. One of the easiest and most effective ways to improve irrigation efficiency is to implement soil sensor technology in irrigation planning.

A soil sensor lets you schedule irrigation events more efficiently, increasing or decreasing their frequency and/or intensity, so you don't wash away valuable nutrients or leave plants thirsty. A remote soil moisture sensor allows farmers to estimate water. To help farmers adapt to these ever-changing conditions, soil and water sensors are used. In the past, farmers collected soil and water conditions in the field by exploring and collecting soil and plant samples. These samples were sent to a lab for analysis, and the results may have taken precious weeks.

Today, thanks to recent advances in soil and water monitoring, critical information is received in the form of real-time measurements from the field, helping farmers make faster and more accurate production decisions. Ether levels without needing to be physically present in the field.

Satellite Images - Smart Farming in Kenya

It has never been easier to forecast yields and perform near real-time field monitoring for a variety of threats with in-service satellite data.

The sensors can provide images in various spectra, allowing the application of many spectral indices, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). NDVI helps detect vegetation content, number of wilted plants, and general plant health. The next is the Canopy Chlorophyll Content Index (CCCI), which helps with nutrient application. The Normalized Difference RedEdge (NDRE) then detects the nitrogen content. And finally, the Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI) is designed to minimize the impact of background soil in the early stages of plant development; The list continues.

Online Data: The Key to Precision Farming - Smart Farming in Kenya

To support farmers and other agronomists in agricultural production, EOSDA has designed EOS Crop Monitoring, a digital satellite platform to monitor crops and accelerate the farmer's decision-making process.

Some of the most useful features available on the platform include:

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to monitor crop health. This index measures the density of vegetation in the field which is strongly correlated with healthy crops at certain growth stages. Higher NDVI values mean healthier vegetation, but other growth rates and stages should also be considered.

Exploration. It is available as a platform-synced mobile app that relies on GPS and digital terrain maps to guide explorers to problem areas in the field. Maps can be used even when the app is in offline mode. Using this application, a farmer can assign various tasks to scouts with just a few clicks. Add a field, drop a marker, define a task. That's all it takes. Once the task is assigned, a scout travels directly to the selected location and checks the location of the problem, inspects pest activity, performs weed management activities, etc., putting all the information obtained into the report generated in the application. . This allows problem areas to be inspected only when necessary, which saves a lot of time to take the necessary preventive measures.

Weather Analysis. By analyzing climate data along with crop health data from satellite imagery analysis, farmers can apply irrigation more precisely and prevent frost or heat damage. For example, one of the best methods to avoid drought problems is drip irrigation with automatic or manual valve control, which allows the farmer to apply the required amount of water to the dry areas.

Productivity And Vegetation Maps. This feature helps farmers save money on fertilizers and reduces the negative impact of nitrogen on the environment. By calculating the differences in productivity and the state of the vegetation in the field, it is possible to apply seeds and fertilizers in a “differential” way. 

This variable rate application is more efficient compared to the fixed rate, taking into account the needs of different areas of the domain. Maps are calculated and displayed as areas (hence zoning) and can be used as directions for agricultural machinery. Smart  farming in action!

Drones - Smart Farming in Kenya

With the help of drones, farmers have the ability to accurately define crop biomass, plant height, weed presence and water saturation in certain areas of the field. They offer better and more accurate data with higher resolution compared to satellites. When operated locally, they deliver valuable information even faster than browsers. Drones are also seen as unprecedented aids in insect control; Invasion is prevented by spraying the insecticide in dangerous areas using drones, which reduces the likelihood of direct exposure resulting in chemical poisoning.

Although drones are easy to use and capable of collecting large amounts of data in a short time, it is still difficult to use them consistently because they are not cheap. Drones are almost defenseless when it is necessary to map or survey large areas, and the technology is best supplemented with satellite surveillance between already mapped areas, where specific areas need to be checked.

Agricultural Software And Online Data - Smart Farming in Kenya

The EOS Crop Monitoring platform integrates data from multiple sources, including satellite incidents, weather data, field activity information, and more. By organizing all this data in one place, you can get more detailed information about the condition of your crops and how best to maintain them.

For example, you can compare different vegetation indices in the same field to each other to get a more objective picture of crop health at any given time. Indices can also be compared to temperature and precipitation history from years ago, providing insight into changes in field productivity over a long period of time.

If you have anything to add from your “smart-farming-in-kenya” experience, feel free to share it in the comments section below. Our readers would love to hear from you!

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