Smart farming is the only possible option in such a situation to avoid the impending food crisis.

In the midst of excessive food production and the incidence of hunger, the global food security issue remains daintily unstable due to the dynamic interplay of social, economic, and environmental influences that facilitate food security consequences at different institutional and human levels.

Future estimates, however, lead to a downturn in agricultural productivity and a food deficit, primarily in areas with unresolved food security problems across Africa and Asia. Due to rapid increase in population, climate change and so on, the issue of food insecurity is anticipated to worsen.

Smart farming is the only possible option in such a situation to avoid the impending food crisis. Among many other things, technology provides enhanced communication systems, reliable surveillance systems, guidelines which might enhance all procedures between sowing and harvesting, and successful monitoring of livestock. This could increase crop production, reduce food waste, minimize the supplies or resources necessary per production unit, and improve farming methods.

According to Market Research.com, “According to a new market intelligence report by BIS Research, the global smart farming market is expected to reach $23.14 billion by 2022, rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.3% from 2017 to 2022.” 

What is Smart Farming?

Smart Farming focuses on the management of farms using IoT, automation, drones and AI technology to improve products’ amount and quality while improving manpower needed by production. Some of the digital tools are:

AI in Smart Farming

With the assistance of AI, to help serve their choices, farmers can now examine a number of items in real time, such as climate conditions, temperature, irrigation use or soil quality obtained from their farm.

Also, Bots of AI agriculture often expand the human workforce and are used in different ways. Such bots can produce crops at a higher intensity and faster speed than human workers, detect and eliminate weeds more efficiently and minimize farm costs by providing a 24*7 workforce.

Blockchain in Smart Farming

Blockchain technology makes knowledge traceable in the food supply chain and thus leads to improving food security. It provides a safe way to store and manage information, which makes it easier for smart farming and smart index-based agricultural insurance to build and use data-driven advancements.

IoT in Smart Farming 

IoT applications in farming are aimed at traditional farming activities to reach growing demands and eliminate unnecessary losses. In farming, IoT uses drones, robotics, sensor systems and computer mapping, coupled with implementing innovative machine learning and analytic techniques for crop tracking, inspecting and farm monitoring, and providing farmers with details to save both money and time for reasonable farm management strategies.

Sciforce mentioned that, “Smart Farming has a real potential to deliver a more productive and sustainable agricultural production, based on a more precise and resource-efficient approach. New farms will finally realize the eternal dream of the mankind and feed our growing population that may reach 9.6 billion by 2050.” 

Even then, digital farming techniques have not been embraced by most farmers and the use of innovation is still far from being a global phenomenon. Expense is the most critical obstacle to acceptance, as most farms cannot manage the high initial costs. The lack of appropriate communication and internet networks in rural locations, as well as the lack of knowledge and skills among farmers to apply technology to farms, are another critical phenomenon.