Siva Prasanna
Big data helps to make accurate crop prediction and monitoring the farm with the help of drone technology. Big data, on the other hand, helps farmers to speed up the plant growth and increasing the yield. It also helps the scientist for conducting the experiments on plants about the growth in a harsh climate. Big data is a driving force for reforming the agricultural industry and for creating environmental awareness.
Farmers all around the world will be confused about making the decision regarding the type of crop to be harvested. In developed countries like the US, the crop prediction will be done based on the data from the previous years’ climatic conditions like nutrients of the soil, rainfall, climatic conditions etc., These wise decisions help to yield maximum production and help to grow the economic sector for the production of the food.
In poor countries, the scenario is quite different as the farmers live in the edge of poverty and the traditional farming is to be performed. The hard work they keep in raising the crop will go in vain due to lack of data. They rely on advice from technical advisors from the government and academic centers who often have little knowledge of the local area.
Here are the few things big data helps in farming:
1.Accurate crop prediction:
Bigdata helps to predict the crop yields accurately without even planting a seed. Waiting for the plant to grow and see how the crop will yield is a long process and it might even cause a loss in many cases. To produce a bountiful harvest, Native Americans rely on rain dances for the good growth and production of the crop. In recent years, big data is an accurate prediction. A sophisticated algorithm is used to analyze the weather condition and crop data of the last few years and predicts the best crop this year. This is the best way to maximize crop yield with less stress.
2.Addressing world hunger:
The largest crises since 1945 are last year which the UN declared that 20 million people in the world is at the risk of starvation. Massive famine in Africa is the result of rising temperature and increase of the global population. Many humanitarian groups around the world have made great efforts to help in whatever way they can, but perhaps one of the most valuable solutions lies in big data.
For growing the plants irrespective of the climatic conditions, many scientists have been analyzing the plant data. Chemically engineered seeds are showing awesome results which are prepared using the big data. When compared to the control plants, these plants are shown to produce more yield and growing larger. This is one of the best solutions to stop hunger but there is an issue regarding the threat of genetically modified organisms(GMOs).
3.Agricultural Automation:
Due to advancement in technology and big data, automated farming tools like farm-bots, Drones, intelligent sprinklers came into existence. Drones are to be fitted with advanced sensors to update their data, monitor crops, notifying the area needed for improvement. Fleeting robots are used in many parts of the US for planting kernels of corn and picking up the weeds which threaten to spoil the main crop.
4.Environmental Awareness:
Human beings don’t have the capability to predict the exact climatic condition in future. Big data is the tool which helps to predict the appropriate climatic conditions. The agriculture industry is not just an industry or business all human life decisions can be dependent on it. Big data shows companies in the agricultural industry that not only can you protect the environment without increasing costs, but you can also reduce it. Not only are manufacturing industries making changes to reduce their environmental impact, but farmers and agricultural companies have also taken the lead.
Big data offers great opportunities in Agriculture which include:
1.Performance optimization with real-time insights:
Emerging weather events and disease break out can be analysed with the help of advanced analytics. The key challenge is to provide such real-time insights clearly and concisely to enable effective decision making. To achieve this, sophisticated algorithms are needed to unlock the valuable insights available from big data.
2.Potential to increase productivity:
Due to the rising population, it is estimated that by 2050 the need for global food demand will be doubled. With the limited resources and inputs available, farmers have to increase productivity. Precision Farming will play a major role in achieving this. It helps to develop intra-field variability in crops, input and practice applications.
3.Developing highly specific customer segmentation:
To precisely meet the customer needs, it is possible to tailor the product. For example, if Black Grass becomes problematic in a particular area, suppliers can use big data techniques such as segmenting real-time micro customers to target promotional and marketing activities, thereby facilitating better utilization of marketing spending. These analytics also helps to develop more sophisticated pricing strategies.
Big data will eventually develop in future and there will be even more advancement in automated farming. It is the best way for smart agriculture.
