Agriculture is in full evolutionary process, technologically speaking. Gone are the mechanization or the so-called green revolution, the current change has as an idea to include various digital devices such as intelligent sensors, dedicated software, big data, etc. generally in the industry to enjoy the competitive advantages and knowledge that it offers. Today, agriculture remains one of the least digitized sectors.
“Agriculture is one of the last industries to adopt digital technologies, mainly due to traditional practices rooted in the past. But at the same time, it has the enormous potential to bring the world the most impressive changes, impacting the lives of millions of people” says Brijesh Thoppil, director of strategic partnerships at EOS Data Analytics.
Precision farming: technology embedded throughout the process
Precision farming is a modern variant of agriculture that incorporates data from multiple sources to improve the effectiveness of field management strategies in the interest of higher profitability at lower cost. This is made possible by the application of variable rate inputs, only in those areas and at those times when they are needed. To achieve this, satellite monitoring plays a very important role.
Although its adoption has been slow, for reasons as diverse as price and general availability, obtaining high-resolution satellite imagery today is simpler and cheaper than ever. Added to these is the adoption of drones to be able to have a complete picture of the field without being physically present in the field. The use of these sources together with software that provides multispectral measurements allows farmers to know information about the field and crops such as crop health, nutritional properties of the soil or the amount of soil moisture. Some of these characteristics are not visible to the naked eye by the human eye, hence the importance of adopting technology that simplifies farm management.
EOSDA’s customized solutions based on remote sensing
EOS Data Analytics, a global provider of AI-driven satellite image analysis, is the developer of EOS Crop Monitoring, an online field monitoring tool that seeks to optimize agricultural tasks while doing its bit for sustainability and the fight against climate change.
EOS Crop Monitoring allows users to obtain free and paid high-resolution and medium-resolution satellite images that meet observation needs over the area of interest. It is this field monitoring that enables farmers to detect and respond in time to the many threats lurking in the field: heat/cold stress, pests, water stress, weeds, etc. It is this rapid response that maximizes crop yields and reduces costs. In addition, the platform has productivity and vegetation maps that divide the field based on values obtained through vegetation indices. Thus, farmers can apply inputs only on those parts that need it and not on the whole field.
Another aid for timely response to problems is the mobile app for scouts. When a problem is detected in the field, a scouting task can be created on the platform and assigned to the person responsible for fulfilling it. The scout sees in the app where in the field he has to go and fills in a report with photos on the spot, even if there is no Internet. Once the connection returns, the data is automatically synchronized. With the Team Accounts function, all workers on the farm have access to the field data, each with a level of accessibility chosen by the account owner, which brings transparency to management. And thanks to weather forecasting, planning field activities based on the weather is easier than ever.
To facilitate working with the platform, EOSDA plans to launch its own satellite constellation, EOS SAT, the first specifically focused on agriculture. It will consist of 7 optical satellites, with the launch of the first of these as early as 2022, which will put the company in control of the entire data production, from acquisition to processing and delivery, reducing revisit time compared to regular commercial satellites.
