Data Driven Farming

Data is the new oil, a pretty cliched quote. However, bang on target when it comes to the
current scenario of the digital world. We see data being generated every second and
consumed, analysed or wasted. Now, in the field of farming which is considered to be a
conventional practice, this new oil is entering its footsteps.

Farmers, especially in developing nations like India, Nepal, Bhutan, Srilanka ,etc are not
getting the right price for their yield, their production is wasted many a times due to improper
planning & neglection by the authorities. However, right price for the yield seems to be the
biggest worry which causes many suicides among farmers as well. In anticipation of a good
yield, farmers take up loans. This judgement or decision of the crop to grow and the quantity
is solely a farmers experience, not backed by any data. Also post harvest, without any real
information about the demand, they usually sell their yield at a very cheap price at Mandis.

Apart from the pre & post farming analysis, proper understanding of the effective farming
techniques clubbed with demand data can boost the farming income. To achieve this,
farming has to become Data driven.

Some of these Pre farming till Harvest, points which United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) states are mentioned below

Now, lets deep dive into different ares of farming where we could use this Data Analytics.
Farming is affected by many factors like, weather condition, soil type, damage due to insects
(recent locust attack), oblivious of the demand and price etc. A farmer is usually unaware
about most of these factors.

Weather prediction
Most of the agricultural production is very much dependent on natural conditions be it
climate, soil, weather and pests. Big data combined with monitoring technologies, farmers
can observe the impact that extreme weather conditions and other phenomena can have on
their crops.
Also the ability to predict and adjust according to these changes will be more valuable. Big
data platforms can give changes in weather conditions in real time so farmers can respond
promptly. For example, data from sensors in soil and images which is taken by drones can
help farmers establish expected growth rates of their yield. When a smart system knows
what to expect, it can automatically detect anomalies or deviations and warn farmers of
them.

Smart Tracking

An agricultural supply chain has multiple stakeholders, and big data can become useful for
all parties throughout all stages. For example in the production stage, automated systems
can handle data to show performance and reveal issues if any in the critical machineries.
Spoilage is a grave issue when we deal with sensitive materials as seeds, plants, and food
products. Their wastage can hit at the stomach of many farmers.

An interconnection between all these parties using Blockchain and Smart contracts can
prove to be very beneficial.

Smart contract are self-executing agreements that are triggered on the basis of predefined
and agreed events (for example rainfall of more than 200 mm, market price of commodity
more than INR 7500). The “smart” in a smart contract comes from the fact that the clauses in
the contract are evaluated and the appropriate code executed without human intervention
Usage of ICT

ICTs are the core of any data driven approach, because they provide the necessary support
to collect useful data to be analysed later.
Below mentioned figure will give a brief understanding about the role of ICT in agriculture.

References

https://blog.heatspring.com/what-does-data-driven-farming-mean/#:~:text=Data%2DDriven
%20Farming%20is%20the,data%E2%80%9D%20is%20a%20big%20buzzword.

https://www.intellias.com/how-to-encourage-farmers-to-use-big-data-analytics-in-agriculture/

http://www.fao.org/3/CA2906EN/ca2906en.pdf