The new sprayer, developed by agricultural giant John Deere and shown at the CES 2023 tech show in Las Vegas, Nevada, sprays pesticides only where their cameras have detected weeds.
Armed with a smartphone in today’s ever more connected world, farmers can remotely monitor the condition of their fields, the level of food in their silos or even the progress of their crops. aging in barrels.
Both starting a business and agribusiness giants are exhibiting such cutting-edge tools—tools that help farmers collect and analyze data and improve decision-making—at the e-show The giant CES in Las Vegas, will close on Sunday.
Thus, Olivier Lepine, the head of French startup Brad, has developed a sensor that can provide real-time information on temperature, humidity and light hitting a farm field.
With such data at hand, farmers can make more informed decisions about when to water, how to reduce pesticide use, and how to treat the soil—while saving time traveling from the field from one field to another.
“Farmers, especially young people, want impact, but they also want a quality life,” says Lepine.
Meanwhile, South Korean startup AimbeLab is providing a way to monitor the contents of giant silos where grain and animal feed are stored.
Sein Kwon said farmers often “just hit the silo with a hammer to check the sound – which is still very inaccurate – to see how much they have left”.
AimbeLab’s probes not only assess the amount of grain in the silo but also its condition, allowing both farmers and their suppliers to better predict deliveries and thus minimize trips. .
Save on herbicides
Simple Labs, an American start-up, has developed a sensor capable of measuring the temperature, humidity, pH value, and phenolic content—things that affect both flavor and color—of wine in crate or crate, more allowed Precise control excessive aging.
And Meropy, a French company, is showing off an alien-looking wheel—with elongated spokes on either side—that can roll through a field and use its camera to photograph trees. planted from any angle, detecting the presence of weeds, pests or diseases.
“The two main drivers for adopting new technologies are ‘need’, such as when disease outbreaks occur, and the search for cost-saving ways,” said Amit Dhingra, a professor of horticulture at Texas A&M University. Best.
The SentiV robot, designed by French startup Meropy, can detect weeds, pests or diseases on top or under trees.
David Friedberg, head of The Production Board, a California investment firm specializing in agricultural technology, puts it simply: Farmers need to produce “more calories per acre with fewer inputs”— like pesticides—through genomics, digitization, and data analysis.
John Deere, a giant farm equipment manufacturer best known for its green tractors, is also working on this.
The giant 120-foot (36-meter) crane on the company’s latest spray tractor has a camera every few feet and a very fast processor, even as the vehicle rumbles at 12 mph (20 mph (20 mph). kph), can still detect weeds and spray. only when necessary.
“Instead of spraying 100% of the area, we only spray about a third of the area and save chemicals,” said Jorge Heraud, Deere’s head of automation.
Immerse yourself in data
The team has also developed an “Operation Center” available on a computer or smartphone that allows farmers, thanks to the data collected by the many sensors on the tractor, to monitor Real-time information about their location, engine performance and so on. They can also look at how seed testing is progressing or find where weeds are proliferating.
“The farmer can look at the map and understand which part of the field he needs to manage differently,” said Lane Arthur, product designer.
“He will save some money but he will also help the environment.”
As in other industries, says Vonnie Estes, head of innovation for the International Fresh Products Association (IFPA), “farmers are starting to digitize their work.”
Combined with increased automation, data analytics can help solve labor shortages—by knowing where workers are on the farm—of food waste inside supply chain or of greenhouse gas emissions.
“It’s not seamless,” says Estes, noting that broadband connections are not always available or reliable in rural areas.
Another challenge, she says, is that large amounts of technical data can be overwhelming.
“Everybody is talking about 5G,” Estes said, but “a lot of farmers will be happy with 3G.”
© 2023 AFP
quote: Technology at CES shows how farmers can save time, money and the environment (2023, Jan 9) get Jan 9, 2023 from https://techxplore.com/news/2023- 01-tech-ces-farmers-money-environment. html
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