5G in Agriculture – The future of Smart Farming

With the advancements of 5G (fifth generation of cellular networks) and IoT (internet of things), the agriculture sector is evolving rapidly. Moreover, with the growing world population (predicted to reach 9.7 billion in 2050), sustainable improvements are needed in the agriculture sector to meet the food demands. 5G empowers digital transformation in the agriculture sector that enables new opportunities for precision farming and farm management. This will enable farmers to operate with greater accuracy and less waste by optimising resources, reducing water consumption, and enhancing productivity. As a result, smart farming will improve crop yields, minimise operational costs and provide better visibility. 5G is expected to contribute £9 trillion in revenue and 22 million jobs worldwide by 2035.

5G offers many exciting prospects for smart farming and a few of the use cases are presented as follows

Precision agriculture: 5G provides more visibility to farmers so they can apply what is needed for each area instead of treating an entire field the same. This will eventually reduce the use of water and fertilisers. 5G with its capability of high speed and massive machine-type communication will allow the devices to be controlled centrally.

Drones for agriculture: 5G empowers drones equipped with high-quality cameras can be used to scan large fields. With the help of artificial intelligence, drones can identify weeds and spray pesticides where needed. Also, the captured data about weeds location can be reported in real-time to follow-up machinery. As a result, automated crop detection will reduce costs by limiting the spraying of pesticides and saving the number of man-hours as well as it will reduce soil damage and water pollution.

Crops and weed monitoring: 5G enabled smart farming allows continuous monitoring of the fields with the help of IoTs. The gathered data can help farmers to understand the exact water requirements. Soil monitoring is possible via 5G connected sensors buried below irrigation lines. The sensors gather critical soil parameters such as moisture, salinity, temperature and have a long battery life which allows them to operate up to 20 years without maintenance. Farmers can access this data using computers or smartphones and manage the lifecycle of crops accordingly. Soil Scout and Soiltech have developed such sensors that can be used to monitor the growth, transportation and storage of a wide range of crops. 

Livestock management: Livestock is a key sector in sustainable agriculture as it has a large contribution to global food production. The features of 5G enabled devices such as real-time data connectivity and geolocation services will allow farmers to collect data regarding animal’s health, fertility and food consumption. Farmers can use this data to improve livestock performance and reduce costs of livestock management. 5G RuralFirst presented as use case where cows’ collars were connected using 5G which allows farmers to collect data such as eating pattern, fertility and day to day heath in order to improve health conditions and milk yield.

5G aided solutions in agriculture will help to facilitate the digital transformation of smart farming. Although it might take more time to roll out 5G in all remote areas but when it does, it will reduce workforce requirements, costs, water consumption and will increase production with automation.

If you are interested in government funding, here is the funding call related to smart farming you can explore: “Farming Innovation Programme - large R&D partnership projects”.

How can SOLVD help?

If you would like to discuss your specific requirements or have any questions about 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) and their role in the digital transformation of Agriculture, we can work with you to identify and integrate the optimal solutions for your business.

You can email the University of Wolverhampton SOLVD team solvd@wlc.ac.uk or visit www.wlv.ac.uk/solvd.

The SOLVD project supports Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire businesses with the adoption of digital technologies to improve productivity and growth. Eligible businesses can access 12 hours of fully funded support with academic experts.

Blog by: Dr Muhammad Kamran Naeem - Research Fellow in Sensing, Processing and Communications at The University of Wolverhampton.

References

https://fortune.com/2020/02/28/5g-farming/

https://www.5gradar.com/features/ways-5g-will-change-farming-and-agriculture

https://www.cubictelecom.com/blog/5g-agriculture-smart-farming/

https://www.cropin.com/blogs/the-future-of-agriculture-5g-powered-smart-farming/

https://carrier.huawei.com/en/success-stories/Industries-5G/Agriculture