Smart farming ~ Group Discussion Ideas

Table of Contents

What is Smart farming:

Smart farming is managing the farms by using advanced technologies such as drones, sensors, the Internet of Things etc. This is developing into a third green revolution.

Advantages of Smart farming:

Smart farming can improve the quality of products. Using sensors, drones can gather information such as the fertility of the soil and nutrient content. Farmers can access this information using smartphones and thereby can take conscious and accurate decisions with the help of AI.
Smart farming saves plenty of time for farmers because they will have to visit the field a lesser number of times than when using traditional farming techniques. Smart farming techniques minimize the need to take care of monotonous tasks. For example, agricultural drones can observe the moisture in the soil using sensors. If it is below the predefined value, it will take the programmed action such as alerting the farmer or switching on the water spraying function in the drone. It will also result in more efficient use of water. Moreover, this will free farmers to concentrate on other things to improve farm productivity or they can even focus on other sources of income.
Not just for agricultural lands, it can also help in managing livestock. For example, drones can identify the sick animal, so that it can be separated from the group to prevent the spread of the disease.
The world population is increasing, so the demand for food will continue to increase. Smart farming will help in achieving food security for all by improving agricultural productivity.

Also Read : National Education Policy 2020

Challenges:

The tools of smart farming are not affordable to some farmers, especially small farmers.
Smart farming requires a continuous internet connection. Some areas do not have internet facilities and for some areas, it is too expensive to set up a 24/7 internet connection. So, this may create a new kind of inequality.
Smart farming will create new jobs, but will also result in job losses, especially for landless agricultural labourers. Providing new employment opportunities to vulnerable people and training them with the new in-demand skills is a big challenge.

Conclusion:

Smart farming has many advantages such as increased productivity of farms, reduced work for farmers etc. It is very much needed as the demand for food is increasing.

Your Turn…

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