Importance of IoT in Agricultural industry

Internet of Things, IoT, has been transforming all spheres of life and is proving its worth gradually, by providing economical IT solutions. Recently, IoT has made its way to the agricultural industry and is changing its processes. It is true that not many people considered the use of IoT in the agricultural industry but the merging of these two things now seems inevitable. Before industrialization, agriculture was one of the few forms of earning money and was hence very important for living, as well as an occupation. With the advent of machines and technology, the focus shifted to industries and white-collar jobs. Gradually, technology made its way to the agricultural industry in the form of harvesters and related machinery. The quality of seeds improved and fertilizers were introduced to fix nutrients in the soil. Hence, the industry started benefiting from technological advancements.   Why IoT is important for Agriculture? As it has been mentioned before, IoT is the conversion of objects into smart devices to gather valuable data. Data is the backbone of any decision-making process and helps businesses and organizations in planning their futures and becoming adaptable to changes. IoT has proved its worth for businesses and organizations. Various industries have started developing IoT applications such as education, healthcare, and banking. It may come as a surprise but experts believe the agricultural industry will benefit more than any other industry from IoT applications. By the year 2050, world population is expected to grow by another 2 billion. In the coming years, production of enough food to meet the growing demand will pose a problem. To deal with that, various IoT applications are under the development phase, while a few of them are already in the market for trial. IoT applications are expected to help improve the quality of the agricultural output in a cost effective manner. With the help of IoT, farmers will be able to monitor the soil in terms of nutrients and moisture. This will help them in making efficient use of fertilizers and water and hence will decrease the associated costs. Conclusively, IoT is going to be vital for the agricultural industry. Also read: Understanding Scrum & its Components