How Can LoRa Technology Boost Smart Agriculture In India?
For all the steady growth in the secondary (industrial) and
tertiary (services) sectors over the last few decades, the importance of
agriculture in India remains huge. On average, 1 out of every 2 members of the
Indian workforce is employed in the primary sector – and the latter contributes
>17% of the country’s GDP. Around 59% of the rural population (who make up a
whopping 70% of the total population in India) rely on farming as their chief
means of livelihood. Now, it is hardly possible to increase the volume of
cultivable land at a pace to match the rapidly swelling population and the
growing food demands – and hence, the onus is squarely on the farmers to
maximize productivity and yield levels from the available land and other
resources. This requirement, in turn, puts the spotlight on smart agriculture
in India.
Implementation of technological solutions to boost
agricultural performances is not exactly a new concept. Smart tractors have
been in active use across the globe for a fairly long time – along with various
other internet of things (IoT) tools and applications. Semtech’s open standard
LoRa technology (in collaboration with National Narrowband Network
Communications (NNN)) is being used to bolster the rural IoT and smart farming
network in Australia. Earlier this month, it was also announced that Spanish
IoT service provider IoTsens will be integrating LoRaWAN in its smart water
platform. In India, LPWAN technologies like LoRa and Sigfox have begun to make
a difference in the agricultural scenario. In what follows, we will take you
through the major applications, use cases and impacts of LoRa technology on
smart agriculture practices in India:
1.
Suitability
of LoRaWAN in precision farming
The lion’s share of farmlands and cattle ranches in India is
in rural, relatively remote locations. Cellular connectivity, if at all
available, is typically weak and unstable at such places. What’s more, the
locations are often not covered by the licensed spectrum band either. In such a
scenario, LoRa technology (which uses the unlicensed frequency band 865 MHz –
867 MHz in India) serves as the best possible alternative. The ease of
installation, deployment and integration of LoRa network(s) in existing IoT
frameworks is also a big factor. Generally, the sensors used in agritech need
to transfer/update real-time data only at certain pre-specified intervals – and
when included in the ALOHA-based LoRaWAN infrastructure – they help farmers
gain timely, actionable information on a regular basis.
Note: There are more than 40 IoT startups in India that are
working on smart agriculture solutions.
2.
Role
of LoRa in removing the uncertainty factors
While Indian farmers are increasingly adopting farm
technology tools, agriculture, by nature, is still a high-risk activity. There
are a multitude of factors which can have an adverse impact on annual crop
yields (droughts, excessive rainfall/flooding, pest infestation, wrong
harvesting methods, etc.). Implementation of LoRa technology can minimize such
‘agricultural risks’, or ‘field risks’, by doing away with the uncertainty
factors and guesswork associated with the traditional ‘visual observation
methods’. With the help of smart on-field sensing tools and advanced data
analysis, farm-owners can get access to all the pertinent data – right from
tracking soil moisture levels and determining proper irrigation techniques
& fertilizer usage, to the vital health parameters of cattle on a ranch
(this removes the risk of one sick animal contaminating the others as well).
The excellent range and battery performance (>8 years) of LoRa systems
ensure that they are economically viable for the farmers (who might not be
particularly well-off) too.
Note: Quantified Ag has already started using LoRa-powered
wearable devices for animals (e.g., cow ear tags) for constantly tracking
health, welfare and productivity levels. The information received is routed
through the receiver and the cloud system, to the smart device(s)/website(s) of
the farmers.
3.
Importance
of sensors & semiconductors in smart agriculture
By the end of 2017, the worldwide shipments of agricultural
IoT devices stood at 43 billion. Cut to 2020, and that figure will jump to ~76
billion – a 76.7% rise. Apart from automating regular agricultural practices
(and making them significantly more efficient), different types of
semiconductors and sensors – powered by LPWAN technologies – are being used for
livestock tracking, smooth data collection & transfer, smart food
processing, and other related fields. In a country like India, where
agricultural losses (during and after harvest) are as high as $13 billion (well
over ₹ 92000) – LoRa technology can be instrumental in bringing down the
wastage levels, ensure better food availability, and (ideally) greater returns
to the crop-growers. The need for smart agritech solutions is established and
the benefits of LoRa gateways, transceivers, and on-field semiconductors and
sensors are fairly evident. The onus is now on OEMs to come up with suitable,
high-performance tools and systems to take IoT-based agriculture in India
forward.
Note: In a LoRaWAN infrastructure, circuit protection can be
an important issue. The ESD Protection Platform designed by Semtech handles
this very well.
4.
Security
assurance, geolocation capabilities and a growing ecosystem makes LoRa a
perfect fit
On average, an Indian farmer earns not much more than ₹
77000 annually. Understandably, he does not have the funds to invest big on
smart farming solutions and systems. LoRa comes across as an ideal solution –
since using the technology involves minimal (or zero) spectrum costs, thanks to
the fact that it uses unlicensed ISM bands. Even if the connection has to be
taken from a third-party service provider, the fees are very low. The robust
AES-128 encryption standard makes sure that there is no chance of data losses
or breaches in the rural IoT systems. The open standard nature of LoRa is yet
another advantage, and the built-in geolocation technology does not involve
excess power consumption (GPS-free). The average daily power used up by the
smart agri-sensors is less than 13 joules – ensuring optimal battery longevity.
The ecosystem is growing fast too – with the LoRa Alliance, set up in March
2015, currently having more than 500 members. Support and expert guidance is
always at hand.
Note: Both private and public LoRa networks are available
for deployments, as per the precise requirements of farmers and the nature of
the fields.
5.
LoRa
technology for agriculture is big…and growing bigger
For any new technology to be adopted on a large-scale, it
needs to find worldwide acceptance first. Semtech’s LoRa comes up trumps in
that regard. At the start of this year, well over 65000 LoRaWAN protocol-based
macro cell gateways had been deployed, across as many as 65 different countries
(in comparison, Sigfox networks were deployed in 45 nations by 2017-end). The
number of sensors being used has also been projected to exponentially rise over
the next couple of years or so. By 2019, more than 40% of all active LPWAN
technologies will be working on LoRa standards. All of these stats underline
the global popularity of the technology – and in the context of Indian farming,
newer and more innovative use cases for LoRa deployment are being conceived on
a regular basis. System integrators, node managers, IoT engineers,
manufacturers and network operators are all coming together to help the farming
community with technology solutions. LoRa is certainly the future, as far as
precision agriculture in India is concerned.
Note: At the Annual City Of Camarillo Awards in 2016,
Semtech bagged the ‘Business Of The Year’ award.
6.
For
managing water scarcity the smart way, there is LoRaWAN
Of all the water resources kept aside for farm irrigation, a
stunning 60% gets wasted (as per a UN FAO report). In India, this water wastage
percentage jumps to 70% (due to pollution, evapotranspiration, runoffs, etc.).
To minimize such unduly high wastages, the importance of implementing IoT-based
smart irrigation systems is paramount – and once again, LoRa seems to be the
go-to technology over here. Farmers can set up soil moisture sensors and
actuators on their fields – which would collect accurate, periodic information,
and that would help irrigation activities: a) become more effective, and b)
involve lesser consumption/wastage of water. The soil moisture data collected
from the fields is transferred to the centralized LoRa gateways for further
analysis, and on the basis of this analysis, the need for irrigating a field
(or any section of it) can be established with certainty. In other words, using
agricultural IoT tools allows farmers to arrive at a smarter irrigation
decisions. Optimized use of water for irrigation is an absolute must – and
LoRaWAN paves the way for that.
Note: It was officially announced in February that Waterbit,
a leading smart irrigation agency, has started using LoRa RF technology in its
Autonomous Irrigation Solution.
7.
Key
elements in smart farming infrastructure
While the installation, connection and maintenance costs of
LoRa networks are pretty much low – Indian farmers need to have a clear idea of
the main components of the system. For starters, there are the ‘water flow
sensors’ that help in estimating the correct amount of water needed for field
irrigation at any point in time. For measuring the soil moisture/ground
moisture levels accurately, there are ‘soil moisture sensors’ (which can be
digital or analog). Humidity sensors and temperature sensors round off the
other important sensing tools that are present in a farm managed by LoRa
technology. The ‘gateway’ ensures steady internet access and connectivity for
the system microcontroller (generally, single-board microcontrollers are used).
In an automated irrigation system, the importance of the ‘water valves’ – which
release/stop water flow for irrigation based on preset triggers – also deserves
a separate mention. In India and several other developing countries, the main
power system often makes use of solar energy for the entire operations.
Note: All sensors have to be carefully calibrated, to make
sure that the correct soil moisture levels are obtained. Raspberry Pi
microcomputers can be used in scenarios where more power is required.
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8.
Quick
comparison of LoRaWAN with other similar technologies
Given the limited range available when operated in the 433
MHz band, LoRaWAN tools for smart agriculture in India generally use the
865-867 MHz range. In contrast, Zigbee uses 2.4 MHz (IEEE 802.15.4) and RFM69
uses 433 MHz. The maximum data rate of a LoRa network is 22 kbps, which is
considerably lower than that of RFM69 (300 kbps) and Zigbee (250 kbps). Given
that conditions in agricultural lands are hardly likely to change at short
notices, the low data throughput rates of LoRa suit perfectly. The
line-of-sight (or, LOS) coverage distance of LoRaWAN varies in the 2.00 – 5.00
miles range (tools with higher LOS ranges in rural areas are also being
launched) – which is higher than that of RFM69, but well below the level of
Zigbee. As a rule of thumb, LoRa technology can be used for precision farming
everywhere, provided that the irrigation system’s data transmission rate is
less than 22 kbps. Cellular networks (GPRS/3G) have to be used in cases where
the distance is more than 4500-5000 meters.
Note: All LoRa-based smart agriculture devices have to be
carefully tested prior to release. A buggy farm automation system can give
misleading information, leading up to serious damages.
9.
The
Teks agritech system, powered by LoRa
A couple of months back, we launched the first prototype of
our breakthrough LoRa-based smart agriculture device. A single SIM needs to be
used in the gateway (if multiple SIMs are needed per user, that might lead to
serious management issues). The on-field sensors transfer high-accuracy,
real-time data to the system nodes – and the latter then moves the central
gateway (bidirectional data transfer). The gateway then sends the data to the
server for processing and analysis, and the user (farmer) receives regular
updates on his devices. We have gone with a single-channel gateway – with an
eye on the cost and affordability factors, without compromising on the key
capabilities of the system. The time-intervals for data readings can be
selected by farmers (through the dedicated mobile app). The gateway can operate
on LAN or wifi connectivity – and ensure superior management of water resources
for irrigation (soil moisture is tracked, and irrigation notifications are sent
to users). It also has additional capabilities for analyzing soil, temperature
and atmospheric data – based on which accurate predictions are sent to the
server, and the farmers are notified. As things stand now, the main purpose of
our IoT agritech system is to minimize water wastage, ensure proper fertilizer application,
and preserve soil quality.
Note: Every node of the Teks LoRa-based agritech tool is
both low-power and low-cost. It can be charged through standard USB charging
ports or with power banks.
10. Smarter use of
fertilizers with LoRa
On Indian soils, there is an inherent lack of adequate
nitrogen content. To tackle that, nitrogen fertilizers in general, and urea in
particular, are often used rather indiscriminately on fields. This practice
can, and often does, prove counterproductive. A recent report revealed that
these nitrogen fertilizers make up around 75% of the total greenhouse gas
emissions from crop fields (for instance, nitrous oxide). Manual soil testing
is often not adequate (particularly in larger farms) – and the LoRa sensors
(which use low power and cover high ranges) offer real-time visibility and
tracking options for soil conditions, so that fertilizers can be applied at the
right times, and in the right quantities. Overfertilization and
underfertilization are both rather alarmingly common in Indian agriculture –
and switching over to smart farming practices can finally bring in a balance.
In March 2018, wireless soil sensor manufacturer company Teralytic announced
the integration of LoRa technology in its NPK (nitrogen, phosphate, potassium)
sensor. The device has as many as 26 built-in sensors, and it runs on battery.
Note: Teralytic’s NPK soil sensor was launched at the 2018
World Agritech Innovation Summit.
11
Role of AI and agricultural drones
In a benchmark move in 2016, the government of Andhra
Pradesh entered into a collaboration with Microsoft and ICRISAT (International
Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics) – for technology-based analysis
of soil parameters, weather conditions, and other key stats. The entire system
is operated on the basis of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and
of course, secure cloud computing – and it sends text messages to the farmers
(mentioning important information, like correct sowing times). It has been
proven that crop-growers can increase annual yields by up to 30% with this
AI-powered agritech system (the Microsoft Azure platform is used to examine 4
decades of data). Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are
also extremely important in the overall smart agriculture setup, for an array
of purposes – from crop spraying and field/soil monitoring (soil mapping), to
planting and regular crop examinations. Research projects for using drones for
smart farming in India are already underway.
Note: As the use of smart farmtech tools becomes more and
more common, the importance of big data in agriculture will also rise. Already,
the number of data points in a ‘connected farm’ is several times more than that
in a farm half a decade back.
12.
Training the farmers is a challenge that
has to be overcome
Precision agriculture needs data…and lots of it (we might
just call it ‘data-driven agriculture’). While LPWAN-powered systems facilitate
easy and prompt access of such data – and eases a lot of pain points by
automating crop monitoring tasks and generating alerts – the farmers have to be
thoroughly trained on how the tools and sensors and gateways are to be used for
the best possible results. Any IoT agritech tool performs four major functions
(visualization, data analysis, control and process monitoring) – and the
end-users have to be made familiar with all of these capabilities. The fact
that the young generation is not very keen on farming (i.e., in following the
footsteps of their forefathers) is also a challenge. Typically, the younger lot
is more conversant with technical stuff – and unless they start taking a more
active role in smart farm management, things can be difficult. It’s one thing
for the technology to be available – and quite another to have the on-field
personnel to optimally utilize it.
Factoring in the rapid growth in global population, the UN
FAO has forecasted that food production has to go up by a whopping 70% by 2050
(in comparison to 2016). What’s more – the average land size of an Indian
farmer is a measly 1.15 hectares – which often does not allow for much in the
way of scale economies.
To sum up, the Indian agricultural setup has more than its
fair share of fragmentations and bottlenecks. However, progress is being made
in the realm of smart agriculture in India – and the LoRa technology is right
in the face of this revolution. The collaboration of SenRa with Skysens last
December was chalked up to make low-cost, long-range IoT solutions easily
available in India. The scenario is challenging yet promising – and LoRaWAN
definitely has the potential of disrupting the Indian primary sector in a big
way.
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