Among the host of applications, 5G can be used for a smart farming solution which was displayed in the ongoing India Mobile Congress. Airtel along with leading manufacturing company L & T Smart World and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC)- backed AgroW Smart, is working towards the yield of agriculture produce by using smart sensors and controllers in farming. The sensors are designed to sense crop and soil conditions. Later, the data is sent for processing to a 5G powered cloud-based structure. The structure will then provide output suggestions for optimal farming methods for farmers on their smartphones through an app. Anish Sathyan, Joint Director in Control & Instrumentation Group of CDAC Thiruvananthapuram, told Hindustan Times that for a plant to give optimum yield and for optimum growth, the soil needs to have some parameters. Parameters like temperature, moisture, etc., need to be kept within a specific range. Further, he adds that to maintain it, the feed of controllers and sensor wires are used to keep a specific threshold value. Put simply, this arrangement helps maintain the natural conditions for plants. Continuous monitoring of crops with sensors and drones in real-time and changing the conditions if the situation arises can be great for the crops. 5G technology can also help boost the lifespan of the plant and improve the yield. It also helps reduce the cost of cultivation by lowering labor costs and electricity charges. They are also displaying a climate resilient farming chamber that maintains the atmospheric temperature. All this will help in diversifying farming as crops that can not be grown in a particular area’s climate can also be grown by changing the required parameters in the climate-resilient farming chamber. For instance, Capsicum needs a temperature between 22 to 28 degrees Celsius for optimum growth. This can be maintained using the above-mentioned setup. Additionally, a drone-camera-based system can be used to analyze plant leaves. The camera takes images of a plant leaf at regular intervals to identify any disease in the crop. The images will then be compared with the existing data and if the system finds symptoms of any disease, it will also provide a solution with the help of agricultural scientists at the earliest. The app notifies the farmer so that precautionary measures can be followed. With 5G technology, huge data can be transmitted in real-time which can help see a drastic improvement in farming. However, this smart solution comes at a cost and needs to be affordable enough for farmers so that they can implement the innovation easily. That said, the exhibitors are hopeful that the solution will gain momentum and find more usage soon. Anish also believes that 5G technology in framing will also be a good investment option for many.
