Orange’s Business Services division is supplying M2M connectivity services to Dacom, a Dutch company which specializes in supplying sensors and software to arable farms for yield optimization. The managed M2M system will let Dacom connect tens of thousands of devices for its agricultural systems to customers in more than 30 countries.
Dacom installs weather stations and soil moisture sensors to monitor the growing conditions of crops. Now the system can communicate over the Orange cellular network, linking real time information to historical records and analytical predictions.
The range of sensors include two types of solar powered weather station, TerraSen irrigation station, an insect monitoring system to check the developmental cycles of a range of pests to optimize pesticide usage and a fungal disease monitoring system. All the systems feedback into the Dacom software platform, which requires an annual license. The software then allows a user to track and monitor the conditions in the fields.
This type of system should allow farmers to optimize their yields, which has obvious economic benefits. It will also let farmers know if their crops need attention before damage is done to the harvest ‘ letting them know if water, pesticides or nutrients need to be applied before the problem becomes too advanced to successfully address.
Orange’s cellular network will provide a long-range connection with almost universal coverage to businesses that select the Dacom system. While other networks are capable of maintaining the same quality connection, a cellular network does not require installation or configuration. The network is already operational, so companies such as Dacom need only connect to it, without the hassle of building or installing their own units. They only need a SIM card, a battery and an antenna.
Dacom also benefits from only requiring one international provider, rather than having to negotiate with individual operators in individual territories. A common communication infrastructure means that the SIM cards can be treated equally regardless of location, for a single price.
Smart Agriculture is a vertical within Orange’s Smart Cities and Territories program, which aims to provide connectivity to farmers and agri-food companies ‘ a market that is slowly waking up to the benefits of automated monitoring.
Agribusinesses can continuously monitor and optimize the supply of raw materials to the farms and crops via the deployed sensors. The connectivity also allows the data to be easily shared with partners and suppliers.
Systems such as these also have huge environmental potential thanks to their ability to prevent water wastage ‘ a huge problem in places like California, which is suffering a much publicized drought due to problems with water supply to agriculture. Pesticide usage could be reduced to an as-needed system, instead of routine spraying, if the sensors can collect data on whether spraying is absolutely necessary or the peak time for application.
Dacom is not the first or only company to have developed crop management systems in IoT. Commercial versions for gardens are available from Greenbox and GreenIQ, which send notifications to your phone when your plants need watering. UgMO sells soil moisture sensors targeted at residential properties or very large individual houses that work in much the same way, again aiming to reduce water wastage, and OnFarm provides a very similar service to Dacom.
Dairy herds can also be connected to software to track ovulation cycles to ensure that cows are inseminated at a time that will optimize their milk output. The collar that tracks the cows is WiFi connected, and is called the Silent Herdsman, with a rival product from Dairymaster called the MooMonitor.
These systems and technologies are evidence of the benefits that connectivity and analytics can provide to a technique as old as civilization itself. An increasing global population will encourage more farmers and governments to maximize the potential output of arable land and livestock, so we expect that systems like these will experience strong growth in developed markets initially, before miniaturization brings the price down to a level suitable for emerging economies.