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The Application of Smart Agriculture Lora Module in the Internet of Things in Dairy and Planting Industries2024-03-27 08:44:39
LoRa, represented by Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN), is widely used worldwide. As an open communication standard, LoRa based communication products can be used in all aspects, from simple farm only dedicated networks to agricultural machinery, agricultural product status detection, and more.
Bull networking
The Internet of Things can not only connect things to things, but also connect cows to cows.
Bull positioning
According to the beef market center, there are over 1467548724 cows worldwide, not to mention over 1.4 billion cows!
·63% of the world's cattle are in Brazil, India, and China
·South America has 368469907, while Brazil only has 211764292
·Every year, 10% of cases are lost or stolen, resulting in losses of over $34.7 billion
Does it look particularly shocking? For cows, there is no concept of getting lost, where do they eat grass instead of eating? But they are human private property, and losing them will naturally cause huge economic losses.
The LoRa module can easily identify the location of cows, and farmers can use the LoRa network to effectively manage cows. If cows are not in the fence they belong to, an alarm will be sent to the manager. This simple application has a very low cost, but it can greatly reduce farm losses. However, this is not as simple as it sounds. Although the LoRa module and gateway cost very low, deploying the entire farm does not cost tens of thousands of yuan, and then you need to rent a server to view the information collected by terminal devices from the computer. Additionally, you need manpower to install terminal equipment for the cows, which is not easy. However, when all of this is done, you will find that your losses have significantly decreased compared to before.
Cow estrus
In dairy farms, Lora has another interesting application, which is to detect the estrus of cows. There are already mature biological theories to prove that, and after sufficient observation, cows experience changes in body temperature during estrus, and their pace is noticeably denser. If the entire estrus period of a cow has passed without any bulls coming, she will be very frustrated and need to be injected with estrogen to re estrus. However, this can lead to a decrease in the cow's resistance, susceptibility to illness, and decreased milk quality. Sensors can detect when cows are in heat, which increases the average fertilization success rate from 2.0-2.5 attempts to 1.58, shortens the average calving interval from 402 days to 354 days, increases the birth rate of female cows, and increases milk production, resulting in a significant increase in dairy farms. Sensors can also detect when calves are giving birth, and traditional farmers can only determine which cow is about to give birth by observing. Remote alarms can now be used to prevent farmers from losing cows and calves during calving.
Planting industry
Water and fertilizer are two key factors for crop growth, and both have a negative impact on yield and quality. Potatoes and cotton are sensitive to excessive watering, but strawberries and tomatoes prefer dry soil. The intelligent IoT irrigation system provides monitoring and adjustment capabilities, which can provide guidance at a glance.
Sensors measure a certain component in the soil and can tell you how much water and fertilizer there is in the topsoil. If the sensors are distributed in the field or greenhouse, they can determine the correct irrigation time while saving water and energy. The application of LoRa modules and gateways has increased the yield of our wine clients' vineyards by 20-30% and reduced the use of fertilizers and drugs. The problem with palm oil plantations lies in the thick tree canopy, which makes it difficult for wireless signals from cellular networks to penetrate. However, LoRa does not have this problem. LoRa has strong penetration power and applies pest control by using simple traps that only allow targeted pests to enter. When the sensor weight reaches a certain level, it issues an alarm to inform the owner that the insects are full.
The big data collected from the operation of all these sensors can be further utilized on a global scale. Soil sensors will have characteristics of how to respond to water, and the amount of fertilizer required to maximize yield will vary with climate and crop types, depending on multiple standards. If all these data are centralized, classified, and effectively utilized, it will provide enormous benefits to farmers, taking into account climate and soil conditions. Based on the data, it can be inferred which type of crop to plant in any country to achieve maximum yield.
Currently, many large-scale experiments are being conducted around the world, and in the coming years, such experiments will continue to increase. Convincing farmers to use technology for intelligent agriculture will be crucial and challenging, as they need to invest in the early stages and wait for the harvest season to see investment returns. If the cost of the Internet of Things system is low enough and the end-to-end system is simple enough, farmers can deploy the agricultural Internet of Things in stages, which will become the mainstream way in the future.
Intelligent agriculture has just begun. Cold chain monitoring, the recycling of agricultural waste, and big data will transform precision agriculture into predictive agriculture, enabling financial institutions and governments to monitor production and consumption on a global scale. This is crucial for addressing food security issues.