Internet of Things (IoT) for Agriculture Webinar Series

22 August 2017. Internet of Things (IoT) - networks of objects that communicate with other objects through Internet - holds potential to transform today's agriculture by enabling more precise resources management through low-cost sensors and generating large amount of data for effective decision-making. While the IoT for agriculture has so far been visible mostly in developed countries, it holds prospects of benefiting the farmers in developing regions due to the combination of three contributing factors:

1. rapid decline in sensor costs, 
2. increasing penetration of smart phones, 
3. and expansion of global mobile broadband coverage. 

Once the appropriate enabling conditions are in place, IoT solutions can be realized through various technology applications such as satellite-based remote sensing, on-ground wireless sensors network, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) like drones.

Against this backdrop, the World Bank's Agriculture Global Practice, with financial support by the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF), and in collaboration with USAID and Feed the Future, the U.S. Government's global hunger and food security initiative, organizes a webinar series on Internet of Things (IoT) for Agriculture to highlight the innovation, business models, and demonstration of results on the ground for applying IoT in Agriculture.

Each webinar is a live event, held every other Tuesday starting in June 20th, and lasts approximately 45 minutes (30 minute presentation, 15 minute Q&A session). All webinars are recorded and uploaded online.

8 August 2017. "ThirdEye: Flying Sensors to Support Farmers' Decision Making"

Watch the webinar recording here

The Third Eye project supports farmers in Mozambique with their decision making in farm and crop management by setting up a network of Flying Sensors operators. These operators are equipped with Flying Sensors and tools to analyse the obtained imagery. This project is unique as it is a first trial in a developing country to supply information on a regular base using Flying Sensors. At the end of the project (2017) it is foreseen that 8000 farmers will use our services, farmers’ yield will be increased by at least 10%, and farmers have improved their irrigation practices.

    

Published on 6 Jun 2017
Mapping smallholder farmers’ fields with a unique network of Flying Sensor operators in Mozambique. Part of the Securing Water for Food program, funded by USAID, Sida and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

22 August 2017. Webinar HelloTractor

Rapid urbanization, aging farm populations, and depleting rural labor resources pose serious threats to our global food security. As rural labor resources come under continued pressure, tractors are the answer. When available, tractors can work 40x faster and be significantly less expensive than off-farm labor. Most farmers, however, can't afford to own their own tractors and most tractor service providers operate well below their potential. Hello Tractor has developed a solution to address these problems.

The company has developed a low-cost monitoring device that when placed on a tractor provides the owner with powerful software and analytics tools to ensure tractors are both profitable and properly cared for. The software connects tractor owners to farmers in need of tractor services - just like Uber for tractors. Hello Tractor also works with financial institutions and technicians to ensure tractor owners have the financing and spare parts needed to grow and protect their fleet. All of this work is being done to ensure that smallholder farmers have the resources they need to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing global agricultural market.

Watch the webinar recording here

Upcoming Webinars:
September 5th
Eruvaka Technologies develops connected devices and mobile-based decision tools for affordable monitoring and automation of aquaculture farms. It has developed a solar-powered product that integrates sensors, mobile connectivity and decision-making tools to monitor aquatic farms. The product allows shrimp and fish farmers to monitor their ponds and remotely control automated equipment such as aerators and feeders.

September 19th
Stellapps leverages IoT, big data, cloud, mobility and data analytics to India's dairy sector by improving agri-supply chain parameters, including milk production, milk procurement, cold chain, animal insurance and farmer payments. The SmartMoo IoT router and in-premise IoT Controller acquire data via sensors that are embedded in Milking Systems, Animal Wearables, Milk Chilling Equipment & Milk Procurement Peripherals, and transmit the same to the SmartMoo Big Data Cloud Service Delivery Platform where the SmartMoo™ suite of applications analyze and crunch the received data before disseminating the Analytics & Data Science outcome to various stakeholders over low-end and smart mobile devices.

October 3rd
Flybird Farm Innovations is India-based social impact agriculture start-up focused on improvising the farmer livelihood, improving crop yield and production, saving water and electric power, and integrating affordable technologies for farmers through innovative solutions. Satish KS, Founder and CEO of Flybird, will introduce Flybird's work in precision farming using sensors and wireless/3G phone for smart irrigation and fertigation applications.