It‘s hard to think of an area of life today that the Internet of Things (IoT) hasn’t affected. The business world has embraced it to gather more data and improve transparency, and many consumers rely on it to make their lives easier. These technologies can serve even higher purposes, too, like fighting world hunger.
As of 2019, more than 820 million people worldwide didn’t have enough to eat. With a growing population and declining resources, this problem could become more severe over time. IoT implementation in agriculture can help prevent that future.
Here’s a closer look at how the IoT can help feed the world.
Producing More Food With Fewer Resources
There’s a developing trend in farming called precision agriculture, which uses IoT technology to grow more with less. For example, connected sensors in the soil can monitor factors like moisture retention and nutrient levels. This data then guides how much water or fertilizer farmers should use, eliminating waste while fostering optimal growth.
This level of precision helps farmers conserve resources, which is becoming increasingly crucial as the population grows. Addressing crop care on such a dynamic, individualized level also helps create the optimal growing environment, improving yields. Experts suggest that precision fertilizer application alone can cause an 18% increase in crop yields.
As more farms adopt these technologies, they’ll produce more without having to expand. Consequently, they can feed more people with the same amount of resources. Optimized growing conditions could also improve crops’ nutritional content, making it easier to fight hunger.
Growing Food Faster
Producing more food is only part of the solution when it comes to fighting world hunger. This problem isn’t a future possibility but a present reality. IoT technology in agriculture can help accelerate food production so organizations can address hunger faster.
IoT soil sensors can highlight the best areas to grow crops and identify the nutrients they need. With this information, farmers can start hydroseeding, where they combine seeds, fertilizers, and other additives and spray them over the ground. This process takes half the time of conventional seeding and enables faster growth through nutrient inclusion.
Another IoT solution that accelerates crop growth is the smart greenhouse. These structures automatically adjust environmental controls to sustain growth and mitigate changing weather. This flexibility prevents inclement weather from slowing crop cultivation.
Ensuring Safe and Efficient Food Delivery
After farmers grow food, they have to get it to those in need safely and quickly. The IoT can help in this area the same way it improves many other industries’ supply chains. IoT sensors in food shipments can ensure product quality and enable faster deliveries.
Spoilage accounts for 21% of food loss, so ensuring shipping conditions remain safe is crucial. IoT devices can monitor factors like temperature and sunlight and adjust accordingly to maintain a proper environment. If something goes wrong, they can alert drivers to fix the issue or deliver the food somewhere else before it spoils.
IoT location trackers can also help logistics command centers keep track of where all shipments are. This transparency enables them to make any needed adjustments to routes to ensure faster shipping times. Organizations can then deliver food to people in need faster.
The IoT Can Help Make Hunger a Thing of the Past
Solving world hunger will take more than just the IoT, but these technologies provide a substantial source of aid. The precision and transparency of IoT devices enable people to produce more food, produce it faster, and ensure it arrives safely and on time. These technologies equip organizations with the advantages they need to fight hunger today.
As IoT adoption rises and technology advances, new use cases will arise, and these current ones will improve. With broad enough implementation, the IoT could revolutionize the fight against world hunger.
