Colour and texture of green leaves are not only just pleasing to the eye, but more importantly a natural source of healthy addition to our diet by bringing in a strong quotient of vitality. The significance of the spinach, combined nutrient value of the cabbage and the splendour spread of salads with lettuce can easily make their way into the dining rooms of many a home around the world, now. Thanks to the advent of the advantage of agri-tech farming that is accessible and affordable to most world nations, particularly the UAE.
With constraints on land, water and vagaries of agricultural conditions, the world of IoT can be the differential dividend game changer that UAE and the Middle East countries benefit immensely from. Agricultural companies can take up the process of mass production for qualitative and quantitative consumption of greens, something that all health-conscious people want to have on their platter, since they are loaded with vitamins and minerals and most importantly are low in calories.
Green leafy farming can be benchmarked into a sustainable model for high efficiency production with modern technique which can also accommodate specifically calibrated devices, system and applications. The produce also could be stored hygienically and delivered with systematic logistics to reach the confines of the customers with the help of data driven technology enabled by IoT.
- Planning the farming: These can be a product of yearlong farming activity in which many varieties can be grown and reaped. The change of seasons, soil condition, water level on the surface, availability of direct sunlight and cool season can be critical aspects which determines the produce. Data that is shared on the internet will be immensely handy for planning, processing and producing.
- Irrigation and fertilizers: With the help of embedded sensors and web enabled smart devices the accurate need for water can be controlled by web platform without excess stagnation through drip technology. Green leaves also are prone to damage caused due to insects for which a drone-controlled fertilizer management technique can be put to practice for ensuring state-of-the-art crop management system.
- Smart Farmers: The application of data analytics and artificial intelligence is fast emerging as the transformational agent for technological savvy smart farmers. Agricultural production is no more a ‘mere mud and slush’ sort of work environment, IoT has brought in entrepreneurs who are now smart farmers. In the advanced lifestyle-based country like the UAE, this web interfaced approach will be most suitable for advancing industry standards in a conventional occupation like agriculture.
- Self Sufficiency and Scale of Economics: The consumption of food products, inclusive of pulses and vegetables are considerably depended on imports in a country like UAE. The new generation ‘smart vertical farming approach’ is a sure way towards closing the gap between demand and supply and attaining self-sufficiency for producing agricultural products. This could be a determinant factor to increase share of agricultural revenue in the GDP to a higher level than the present level of around 1.1 percentage.
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In the wake of the reality of the global trend witnessing an increasing usage of IoT devices in the agricultural sector, UAE can never be an exception to this phenomenon. The move to adopt to ‘precision agriculture practice ‘ will be necessitated to counter the challenges of shrinking land, surging demand, depletion of agricultural workforce and need to engage in high yield – less wastage system of farming, which is economically viable and environmentally sustainable!
