Agricultural Informatics

Preface

The emergence of automation in agriculture has become an important issue for every country. The world population is increasing at a very fast rate, and along with this increase in population the need for food is also increasing at a brisk pace. Traditional methods used by farmers are no longer sufficient to serve this increasing demand, resulting in the intensified use of harmful pesticides. This in turn has had a profound effect on agricultural practices, which in the end can render the land barren. This book discusses the different automation practices, including the internet of things (IoT), wireless communications, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and deep learning, currently being employed to address this problem. There are some areas of concern in the field of agriculture, such as crop disease, lack of storage, weed and water management, pesticide control, and lack of irrigation, all of which can be solved using the different techniques mentioned above.

From the earliest civilizations up till now, clothing, shelter and food have been the three primary needs of human beings that have remained constant. And even though we have become quite advanced in addressing issues related to housing and clothing, despite the increasing population (as per the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 70% more food will need to be produced in 2050 than was produced in 2006), issues related to food production have yet to be completely addressed. In recent ...