Tech corner
Perspective from an ag tech venture capital firm: Seven advancements in irrigation sensor technologies By Arama Kukutai
Irrigation sensor technologies are hardly new — but the last few years have seen an incredible surge in internet-enabled technologies offering greater analytics, automation, convenience and value, which warrant a fresh look. Over 700 digital ag companies have been founded in this latest wave of innovation, according to ag tech venture capital firm Finistere Ventures LLC and PitchBook data, yet in-ground sensors represent an incredibly small percentage of this group. As farmers increasingly seek out tools to help them influence productivity, sensor technologies that help them understand moisture and other important factors below the soil must play a larger role.
Finistere estimates that only five percent of arable acres across U.S. farms leverage irrigation sensors today, with many farmers pointing to cost constraints, functionality
and ease-of-use challenges as primary barriers. Yet, you cannot manage what you cannot measure. Forward-thinking farmers realize this and are starting to embrace soil sensor innovations.
What is changing? There are seven developments that will drive on-farm deployment of sensors in the years ahead:
1. Software advancements, including predictive analytics and learning applications, are enabling farmers to more easily harness “big data” coming from networks of soil sensors and utilize it in practical ways.
2. A push for stronger integration with other data sources and internet- connected technology, such as weather and soil salinity tracking tools, has begun to help farmers see the bigger picture.
3. The surge in connectivity to the web via low-cost mobile data and short- message service, along with the cost curve of sensor technologies, is driving down costs.
4. Automation and laborsaving aids such as smartphone apps that automate irrigation are beginning to emerge, especially for pressurized irrigation systems like sprinkler/pivot and drip/subsurface drip.
5. Simpler interfaces and dashboards for smartphones and tablets are making the shift to technology less daunting for farmers trying to make sense of the agronomic decision- making spectrum.
6. Innovations in self-installation are empowering untrained farm staff to quickly and easily deploy sensors.
Photo credit: CropX 28 Irrigation TODAY | October 2017
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
