The Awaited Data Harvest

The agricultural sector is no stranger to the new technologies and paradigms that affect other sectors linked to the production, transformation, and/or distribution of any type of good or service.

An evident example of this is all the changes that are taking place in search of improving efficiency in the use of water throughout its integral cycle, optimizing its management, reducing the weak points of the chain – losses, leaks, etc. – and protecting itself against present and future risks – physical sabotage and cyber threats. Evidently, the agricultural sector is a main actor in said cycle. And water management is not its only point of improvement.

Figure. Integral cycle of water management

Source: ‘Transformational Wisdom for the Water & Wastewater Industry’ by Schneider Electric

The sector Spanish agricultural sector has so far been skeptical and conservative with the advancement of new technologies and with good reason, mistakes are costly, and the margin for maneuver is narrow for risky adventures. That does not mean that large bets and investments are not made, but these have always been more focused on machinery, infrastructure, or civil works that have an immediate impact.

But being skeptical does not mean being careless; we are at a moment when technological atheism can be considered recklessness both from a business and ecological point of view, as well as from the point of view of the personnel working on the farm, in the same way that the future is largely mortgaged.

It is evident that there are scenarios that today seem distant – but not impossible – that provide an understandable advantage, such as the autonomous operation of agricultural machinery, automation of agricultural warehouses and silos, or the use of drones to provoke or prevent precipitation. But the remarkable fact is that there are currently already tools, technologies, and knowledge to carry out projects that will mean an improvement of the sector.

The existence of new transmission technologies, the improvement of coverage, low-consumption tools, the improvement of batteries, the use of geolocation, powerful data analysis software, the interconnection of systems… all this allows ideas with an immediate impact to ALREADY be a reality such as:

• Real-time control of the chemical state of the soil.
• Coordination of irrigation with weather forecasting.
• Rapid detection of leaks in the pipe network through pressure losses or flood sensors.
• Machine learning of the mechanical and electrical devices involved in irrigation for preventive maintenance
• Control of plague propagation
• Remote coordination of the pipe park.
• Tools to detect and scare away unwanted fauna
• Analysis of procedures for continuous improvement processes
• Control of the level of the silos for fleet management
• Monitoring of the material stored in silos or sheds

This type of improvement are the first steps that must be taken to have a more controlled and safe irrigation sector to improve its productivity and efficiency. From here, new plans and even more ambitious horizons will emerge, but it must start here.

It is evident that the sector’s reluctance has been justified. Therefore, any type of project has to be done conveniently , justifying the selected tools and technologies, with a technological partner that inspires confidence, carrying out the corresponding prior Proofs of Concept, having clear what is the scenario to which it is intended to arrive, keeping in mind the risks derived from this change of scenario – cybersecurity is a clear example of this –, with verifiable success stories… Not thinking about it can lead to a failed project.

Numbers in hand, there are already projects with high ROIs carried out from the private sector in collaboration with the public sector. So, let’s start fixing the technological deficit of a primary sector in our society.

Next Wednesday, February 28, we will contribute our grain of sand to the technological modernization of the sector by participating in an interesting conference organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment under the title “Digitalization, Big Data and Cybersecurity in the Irrigated Agriculture Sector“.

Fernando Campos, Logitek M2M & IoT Solutions Manager