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Surviving in the World: The Rise of Smart Farm Technology

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Welcome back to Surviving in the World (SIW), your newsletter written by students for those interested in global affairs. We always try to present select topics in global news in an easy-to-understand format.

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In today’s letter, we cover the rise of smart farm technology.

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Bought to you by: Dylan Oh (’25), Technology Editor

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Word Count: 471 / Time: 4 minute read.

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​Photo of Daron Acemoglu (Source: Amazonaws)

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The issue:

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  • Due to the global warming and acidification of land, it has become harder for farmers to harvest crops.

  • Severe damage was recently inflicted on the global food chain after Ukraine was assailed by Russia.

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Six million tonnes of grain were used to be exported by Ukraine every month in peacetime, but blockage of seaports and the wars paused its production: only able to produce 1 million tonnes in April.

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The solution: More people have started to focus on a more controllable farming technology that is not restrained by environmental or social factors.

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  • Smart farming is focused on the use of data acquired from various sources in the management of the agriculture industry.

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The method of operation for Smart farming is complex, but the major technology still can be differentiated into three primary groups: semi-automatic robots, drones, and IoT-based remote sensing.

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  • Semi-automatic robots: It detects weeds and sprays pesticides on the plants, preventing the extensive damage caused by pesticides.

    • These robots further can be utilized in harvesting and lifting. These robots can be navigated and managed through GPS at any time.

       

  • Drones: Drones are equipped with advanced sensors and cameras used to survey the farms.

    • The agriculture software-controlled flight plans effectively manage it.

    • These drones help farmers derive insights regarding crops health, such as “irrigation, spraying, planting, soil and field, plant counting and yield prediction.”

       

  • IoT-based remote sensing: IoT-based remote sensing utilizes sensors that are associated with weather stations and analyze the transmitted data.

    • They monitor the crops' light, temperature, and health changes, even extending to moisture precipitation.

    • This analysis helps evaluate the nutrient values of soil and farm hold.

      • It helps detail calculation for areas of acidity and soil drainage.

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Together, these three major technologies form the smart farm technology.

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