The 5 Most Innovative Agricultural Technologies

In recent years, the adoption of digital technologies in precision agriculture has been adjusting how farmers treat crops and manage fields.

FREMONT, CA: One doesn’t have to be a master to see how technology has modified the concept of farming, making it more beneficial, efficient, safer, and simple. Among other technologies, farmers have chosen five they deem to be the best:

• GIS software and GPS agriculture

• Satellite imagery

• Drone and other aerial imagery

• Farming software and online data

• Merging datasets

As a result, modern farms benefit significantly from ever-evolving digital agriculture. These benefits include reduced water, nutrients, and fertilizer consumption, reduced negative influence on the surrounding ecosystem, lowered chemical runoff into local groundwater and rivers, better efficiency, reduced prices, and many more. Therefore, business becomes cost-effective, smart, and sustainable. Let’s discuss some of these agricultural technologies.

1. GIS-Based Agriculture

Since fields are location-based, GIS software has become an incredibly useful tool for precision farming. While using GIS software, farmers can map current and future changes in precipitation, temperature, crop yields, plant health, etc. It also allows using GPS-based applications in-line with smart machinery to improve fertilizer and pesticide application; since farmers don’t have to treat the entire field but only deal with certain areas, they can conserve money, effort, and time.

Another great advantage of GIS-based agriculture is the application of satellites and drones to gather valuable data on vegetation, weather, soil conditions, and terrain from a bird’s-eye view. Such data considerably improves the accuracy of decision-making.

2. Satellite-Derived Data

Predicting yields and conducting almost real-time field monitoring to detect various threats with satellite data in service has never been so easy.

The sensors can give imagery in different spectra, enabling the application of numerous spectral indices, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). NDVI enables the detection of vegetation content, the amount of wilting plants, and overall plant health.

Then, the Canopy Chlorophyll Content Index (CCCI) helps with nutrient application. Also, the Normalized Difference RedEdge (NDRE) discovers Nitrogen content. And finally, the Modified Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI) is designed to reduce soil background influence at the earliest developmental phases of plants; the list goes on.

3. Data From The Sky – Drones

With the help of drones, farmers have a chance to define crop biomass, plant height, the presence of weeds, and water saturation in certain field areas with high precision. They deliver better and more precise data with higher resolution than satellites.

As a result, they offer valuable information even faster than scouts when they are locally operated. Drones are also considered unrivaled aides in the battle against insects; the invasion is prevented by applying the insecticide on the hazard areas using drones, all while reducing the likelihood of direct exposure leading to chemical poisoning.

Although drones are easy to use and can collect large amounts of data within short time frames, they are still challenges when using them constantly as they don’t come cheap. Drones are nearly helpless where mapping or monitoring of large areas is needed. Complementing the technology with satellite monitoring among already mapped areas, where specific zones must be cross-checked.

4. Farming software and online data

To help farmers and other agronomists in crop production, EOSDA designed EOS Crop Monitoring – a digital satellite-based platform for monitoring crops and accelerating a farmer’s decision-making process.

Among the most beneficial features available on the platform are:

1. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for tracing crop health. This index counts the vegetation density in the field, which strongly correlates with healthy crops at specific growth stages. Upper NDVI values mean healthier vegetation, but other indices and growth phases should also be considered.

2. Scouting. It is accessible as a mobile app synced with the platform that depends on digital field maps and GPS to guide scouts to problem areas in the field. Maps can be utilized even when the app is in offline mode. While using this app, a farmer can assign multiple tasks to scouts in just a few clicks. Insert a field, drop a pin, and set a task. That’s all that it takes. Once the task is allotted, a scout moves straight to the selected location and checks the issue on the site, inspects pest activity, performs weed management activities, etc., putting all the information in the report generated in the app. This enables the inspection of the problem areas only when needed, saving ample time to take necessary preventative actions.

3. Weather analytics. By analyzing weather and crop health data from satellite imagery analytics, farmers can apply irrigation more exactly and prevent frost or heat damage. For instance, one of the best methods to avoid drought issues is drip irrigation with automatic or manual valve control, allowing the farmer to apply the required water to dry areas.

4. Productivity and Vegetation maps. This feature supports farmers save money on fertilizers and decrease the negative impact of Nitrogen on the environment. Calculating the variance in productivity and vegetation state across the field makes it possible to apply seeds and fertilizers in a “differential” way. This variable-rate application is more efficient than the flat-rate one, considering the needs of different field areas. Maps are calculated and pictured as zones (hence, zoning) and can be used as agricultural machinery instructions. Precision agriculture in action!

5. Merging datasets

The EOS Crop Monitoring platform integrates data from multiple sources, including satellite-derived includes, weather data, information on field activities, and even more. By having all this data cleverly in one place, you can acquire more in-depth insights into the state of crops and how to take the best care of them.

For instance, you can compare various vegetation indices of the same field with one another to get a more objective picture of crop health at a given moment. The indices can be further contrasted to the history of temperatures and precipitation going back years, understanding the field’s productivity variations over a long period.