By Vasyl Cherlinka Scientist at EOS Data Analytics

Mobile phones have been part of our daily lives for a couple of decades now, a fact that has become even stronger since the rise of smartphones. With thousands of apps available on the market, relevant information can now be in the palm of your hand in a matter of seconds.

Like other sectors, agriculture also takes advantage of this immediate information paradigm. Activities such as the analysis of crop health on the field or the search for signs of potential pests or diseases used to provide key information, but at the cost of actually visiting and scouting the field. Thanks to the improvements in mobile technology, we can have this information at our fingertips from anywhere in the world.

Benefits of Using Agricultural Apps

As mentioned above, obtaining information by visiting the field is possible. However, this requires a walk over every last piece of land, which is not only inefficient but also highly costly. Most farmers and agricultural companies tend to conduct inspections at random locations in the field, where they may investigate an area with good conditions while ignoring others needing immediate attention. This usually means problems are discovered when it is too late, and the crop yield has clearly decreased.

Agricultural apps offer several benefits that are difficult to match with other methods:

• Increased productivity and efficiency: Thanks to mobile apps, managing the schedule, documents, and even financials is easier than ever. Other features, such as alerts or immediate data sharing, help farmers and other staff on the field be alert to any issues and communicate effectively with each other.
• Better decision-making: Immediate access to weather data or crop status helps farmers make decisions based on objective data, leaving behind the era when decisions were based on hunches or incomplete information.
• Reduced costs: By limiting trips to the field to those occasions when the situation requires it, fuel costs are reduced. Also, information about plants’ water and fertilizer needs reduces input usage while the yield remains high and stable.

Remote Crop Monitoring Mobile Apps

One of the most critical areas of use for mobile applications is crop monitoring. Its importance lies in the large amount of data on plant health, soil moisture, and nutrient levels that can be obtained. This data has made early detection of pests and diseases, optimisation of natural resources, and adoption of sustainable practices a reality.

Modern crop monitoring relies heavily on agriculture technology since it offers cutting-edge data gathering and analysis methods. Satellite crop monitoring is very useful to collect important data on the earth’s surface from a distance. Satellites have sensors that capture information in different wavelengths, including those not visible to the human eye. They also serve as a baseline for applying vegetation indices and other advanced analysis methods. 

IoT devices, especially ground-based sensors, are other devices that aid crop health monitoring. Their connectivity allows monitoring various attributes and receiving data in real-time. Drones are also very handy for visual inspections without having to walk the field and can even reach difficult places on foot. By combining these technologies with other technologies such as AI or ML and additional information (weather data, topographical information, historical records, etc.), crop monitoring software, especially mobile apps, shows a complete picture of the crop conditions so farmers can respond quickly to problems as they arise.

Main Functions of Agricultural Monitoring Mobile Apps

There is no standard set of features that apps should include; it all depends on what their purpose is or how they will be used. However, apps that want to offer comprehensive value usually have the following features: 

• Remote sensing monitoring: Remote sensing is not just about natural colour images of the field. Vegetation indices (such as NDVI), early detection of pests and diseases, or soil moisture data are equally important to reduce crop losses and maintain optimal plant health.
• Real-time weather data and forecasts: Weather plays a key role in agriculture, which is why accurate data on temperature, rainfall, or wind speed and direction is essential. This data not only helps to mitigate the risks associated with adverse weather conditions but also helps to better plan field activities (e.g., not watering when rainfall is expected).
• Alerts and notifications system: Reacting in time to any problem is key to maintaining crop yields. AI-based alert systems can alert farmers to a potential problem so that they can act as soon as possible.
• Integration with other farm monitoring systems: Integrating data from the app with other systems enables a complete farming experience. Uploading vegetation maps into farm machinery facilitates the application of inputs, which is incredibly beneficial.

Future Improvements of Agricultural Apps

Today’s agricultural apps meet a large part of farmers’ needs, but this does not mean that their development has reached the highest level. Although technology adoption is increasing worldwide, there are still many rural areas, especially in developing and third-world countries, where neither mobile technology is a standard, nor internet connectivity is ready to respond to the demand for these applications.

Future developments of mobile apps should be geared towards offline use, synchronising data when the connection is available again. The development of new functions should respond to farmers’ needs and be intuitive enough for any user to understand the information. This is the only way to reduce the technology gap within the sector.

About the Author

Vasyl Cherlinka is a Doctor of Biosciences specializing in pedology (soil science), with 30 years of experience in the field. With a degree in agrochemistry, agronomy and soil science, Dr. Cherlinka has been advising on these issues private sector for many years.