Traditional agriculture is at the mercy of changes in the weather, insect plagues, and human error.  Can technology help this sector?  The answer this yes.  Digitalisation has arrived and experts are already talking about “the big new revolution in the agricultural sector”.

This version 4.0 is a product of the intelligent industry concept and incorporates tools that gather data from the entire agro-food chain and process it to create models that are more effective, efficient, and environmentally friendly.

 

Apps: everything your crops need, right in your pocket

Mobile applications can tell us how our crops are doing and what they need at any time, no matter where we are.  One of these apps has been made by Cesens, a leader in hardware and software systems for the agriculture sector.  The app makes it possible to precisely control crops in real time.

Its useful functions include knowing if crops are at risk of an insect plague or diseases, as well as monitoring hydric stress and water levels in the soil.  It also has an instant alert system so that users can receive updates on their mobile phones.

 

Drones: watching from above

Drones are able to fly over large areas of agricultural terrain in a short amount of time, collecting high-quality images and huge quantities of data.  Catalan company Hemav uses drone technology and agronomic data in order to make recommendations to the agricultural sector, ensuring that their processes are more efficient.  With the data that they collect, the company can make estimates about both the quantity and the quality of crops.

 

Robots: a helping hand for more difficult tasks

Robotics increases efficiency, reduces our dependency on the labour factor when it comes to more difficult tasks, and lowers costs.  The start-up Automato Robotics offers a potential solution to the agricultural employment crisis by developing efficient and affordable robots for all types of farmers. Their star product is a robot that harvests greenhouse tomato crops.