Agricultural technology

Agricultural technology

Agricultural technology

Technical application to control the growth and harvest of animal and plant products

Site preparation

The mechanical treatment of the soil under appropriate physical conditions suitable for planting is usually referred to as farming; the addition of nutrients and trace elements is called fertilization. Both of these processes are important in Agricultural production.

In modern agriculture, innovation is more important than ever. The entire industry faces huge challenges, including rising supply costs, labor shortages and changes in consumer preferences for transparency and sustainability. Agricultural companies are increasingly recognizing that solutions to these challenges are needed. Over the past ten years, investment in Agricultural technology has grown tremendously, with US $ 6.7 billion invested in the past five years and US $ 1.9 billion invested last year alone.

The latest technology

• Indoor vertical farming

• Farm automation

• Livestock technology

• Modern greenhouse

• Precision agriculture

Types

·       Universal Automation

·       Sub Tillage

·        Soil and water sensors

·        Weather tracking

·        Satellite imagery

·         Minichromosome technology

·       RFID technology

·        Vertical tillage

1. Universal Automation

Pervasive automation is a fashionable term in the Agricultural technology industry. It can refer to any technology that can reduce the workload of the operator. For example, self-driving cars controlled by robot technology or remotely controlled by terminals and ultra-high precision, such as RTK navigation systems, can make the sowing and fertilization routes as optimal as possible. Most Agricultural equipment has adopted the ISOBUS standard, which makes the operation of the baler, combine harvester, tractor and other Agricultural equipment to communicate or even plug and play

2. Sub Tillage

Secondary farming is done by using various types of rakes, rollers or pulverizes and tools for mulching and fallow to improve the seedbed by increasing soil shredding, saving water and reducing crop residues by weeding. Sub-tillage Equipment used to mix soil at shallower depths is usually used after deeper primary tillage operations; however, some primary Tillage tools can be used for secondary tillage.

There are five main types of rakes:

Discs

Sharp Teeth

Spring Teeth

 Rotating cross rakes 

Soil surgeons

 The roller or pulverized with V-shaped wheel can form a firm and continuous seed bed while compacting the soil. These tools are usually combined with each other.

3. Soil and water sensors

The most effective equipment may be soil and water sensors. These sensors are durable, unobtrusive and relatively inexpensive. For example, these sensors can detect moisture and nitrogen content, and the farm can use this information to determine when to water and fertilize instead of relying on a predetermined schedule. This can make more efficient use of resources, thereby reducing costs, but at the same time, it can also help the farm to be more environmentally friendly by saving water, reducing erosion and reducing the fertilizer content in local rivers and lakes.

4. Weather tracking

Although we are still joking about local meteorologists, the fact is that computerized weather modeling is becoming more and more complex. There are online weather services specifically for agriculture. Farmers can access these services through dedicated on-board and handheld farm technologies, or through mobile applications running on almost any consumer smartphone. This technology allows farmers to have enough advance notice of frost, hail and other weather so that they can take preventive measures to protect crops or at least largely reduce losses.

5. Satellite imagery

As remote satellite imaging technology becomes more and more complex, it can be used for real-time crop imaging. This is not only a bird's eye view snapshot, but also includes images of 5 meters pixels or higher resolution. The crop image allows the farmer to inspect the crop as if he (or she) was standing there instead of actually standing there. Even checking the images once a week can save the farm a lot of time and money. In addition, the technology can be integrated with crop, soil and water sensors so that farmers can receive notifications and appropriate satellite images when they reach a dangerous threshold.

6. Minichromosome technology

One of the most exciting occurrences in Agricultural technology is probably very small packaging. A mini-chromosome is a very small structure inside a cell, with almost no genetic material, but in layman's terms, it can hold a lot of information. Agricultural geneticists can use mini-chromosomes to add dozens or even hundreds of traits to plants. These characteristics can be very complex, such as drought tolerance and nitrogen utilization. However, the most attractive aspect of mini-chromosome technology is that the original chromosomes of plants do not change in any way. This leads to faster regulatory approvals and wider, faster consumer acceptance.

7. RFID technology

The Aforementioned soil and water sensors laid the foundation for traceability. The industry is just beginning to realize this infrastructure, but it is rapidly taking shape. The information provided by these sensors may be related to Agricultural production. This looks like a science fiction novel, but we live in a world where a bag of potatoes can be filled with barcodes, and you can scan it with a smartphone to get information about the soil that produces potatoes. The future of farms that can market themselves and allow loyal consumers to track their purchases is not far away.

8. Vertical tillage

As early as the 1950s and even earlier, vertical agriculture has been the subject of science fiction. Now, it is not only scientifically feasible, but also financially feasible within ten years. Vertical Agriculture technology Vertical agriculture is an integral part of urban agriculture and is the practice of producing food in vertically stacked layers. This provides many advantages. Perhaps the most obvious is the ability to grow in an urban environment, so you can get fresh food faster and at a lower cost. However, vertical agriculture will not be limited to the originally anticipated urban environment. Farmers in all areas can use it to make better use of available land and grow crops that are often not feasible in those places.

Modern greenhouse

In recent decades, the greenhouse industry has transformed from small-scale facilities (ie, botanical gardens) mainly used for research and aesthetic purposes to larger, larger facilities that directly compete with conventional food production on land. At present, the entire global greenhouse market produces nearly US $ 350 billion in vegetables annually, of which less than 1% is produced in the United States.

Today, the industry is witnessing unprecedented vigorous development, largely due to the recent tremendous progress made in evolving technology. Today, more and more greenhouses are being built on a large scale, with capital injected and centered on the city.

Currently, the entire global greenhouse market produces nearly $ 350 billion in vegetables annually.

With the rapid growth of the market, it has also experienced a clear trend in recent years. Modern greenhouses become more and more technologically advanced by using LED lights and automatic control systems to perfectly adapt to the growing environment. Successful greenhouse companies are expanding aggressively and locating their growth facilities near city centers to take advantage of the growing demand for local food regardless of season. In order to achieve these feats, the greenhouse industry is also increasingly injecting capital. They use venture capital and other resources to build infrastructure that is indispensable in current market competition.