Today it is rather difficult to find something which is not affected by information technologies. And farming is not an exception to this rule. Moreover, a tablet, smartphone, or laptop can be a farmer’s main tool since it can provide him with all necessary information. Yes, you cannot work properly without smart devices and agriculture software.
And in this article, we will explain how technologies can change farming and how this area will be developing over the next several years. Moreover, it seems that mobile app development plays a significant role in it. I bet the information below will be really interesting for you!
Smart farms – farming of the future
World’s population continues to grow every single year. Therefore, the problem of nutrition is among the most urgent ones that humanity has to resolve. We have to find new ways to obtain more food and use our land plots more effectively. Old ways of increasing crop yield and livestock growth are not very efficient. According to experts, by 2050 the demand for food will have grown up to 70%! In other words, if the amount of food we grow remains unchanged, people might face such disasters as famine. To prevent such a state of affairs, it is necessary to apply the latest developments in the IT-sphere – both technologies and appropriate apps for agriculture.
Farmer of the future – tablets and smartphones are his best friends
While robotic farmers still seem to become something in the distant future, human farmers keep on doing their job. And smart electronic devices assist them in it.
Engineers create a network of sensors on fields and plantations that uninterruptedly gather data about humidity, temperature etc. The received information is processed and stored in a cloud. Then it is forwarded to its final point in a user-friendly way – via a mobile farm tracking app, for example. In addition, the farmer can operate farm machinery remotely using this application. It makes it possible to control his or her field from any point.
- The user can see an electronic technological field map where the information from different sources is displayed. Comparing columns on smartphone/tablet, the farmer can see the dynamics of expenses per hectare at various periods.
- Use of these technologies is necessary for understanding the dynamics of the crop yield growing.
- Satellite monitoring systems along with UAVs gather data 24 hours a day, so farmers always know the condition of their crops. Moreover, it allows the farmers to know how much money their crops will bring them.
- Multipurpose data transfer protocol ISO 11783. New agricultural equipment maintains this protocol developed for farming. It provides compatibility with all farming equipment and its interactions.
- Online stores make it possible for users to organize a stable sale of their products to the nearby cities.
Is it convenient? Probably, yes. But it will take time to integrate these technologies into all farms. Not all regions have the feasibility to apply them.
IT solutions in agribusiness
Modern farming requires skilled expert solutions for optimizing agribusiness. And in this case, optimization can be achieved only by smart technologies and new equipment. Many developed countries are integrating IT solutions into agribusiness. It can be not easy to find the best farm management software. Our company, however, has also a lot of experience in the development of multipurpose high-quality farming mobile apps.
Our expertise in the development of the apps for farmers
Our company is experienced in the farming area. We were lucky to participate in the development of several interesting agricultural apps for farmers and websites for various sectors of farming. And we will be glad to share our experience and knowledge with you.
Android app for agriculture
An Israeli farmer found AndroSwift while surfing the web and sent us a description for an app he would like to have. At that moment he was engaged in cultivating and harvesting of flowers and vegetables. After a while, he had a wonderful idea – why shouldn’t he extend his agribusiness? He decided to plant some lemon trees to start with. The only problem was the extremely hot climate of Israel.
What is automated farming?
Do you use your smartphone or tablet for controlling? No matter of what exactly, whether it be your bank account, smart bulb or air conditioner. You can apply such control functions in an agricultural area as well.
With the help of your gadget, it will be possible to monitor:
- plants’ growth, soil quality;
- irrigation systems;
- condition of crops etc.
It allows you to save your time and money since you can respond quickly to any problem. At the same time, an automated system is able to do almost everything the previous generations had to cope with manually. But apart from smart and complex software, you shouldn’t forget about appropriate hardware. The combination of hardware and software is fundamental.
On the farm of future humans, visual monitoring will only be necessary at the stage of sowing plants and their germination. Other actions concerning the cultivation of plants will be completely automated. With the help of the stacking crane, the seedling will be placed into the ground. Harvesting and packing will also be handled automatically. The automated process of farming is eco-friendly and suits any climate conditions.
Robots are gradually replacing people not only from production lines, call centers, and other industries but from farms also. Who knows, maybe soon there will be completely robotic farms that will breed, feed, milk, and carve cows and other animals in a standalone way. And these farms will provide us with an uninterrupted supply of meat, milk, fruits, and vegetables.
Technical solutions for agriculture
Scientists and engineers are working on the development of high-tech sensors for farming and agriculture especially. Sensors can be installed on the irrigation system for controlling the water supply. Thus, sensors track water levels, temperature, and solar energy. When enough water is supplied, the system shuts off automatically.
In addition, sensors are also installed in soil or directly on plants. Mesh sensor networks make it possible for the user to see the ripening process, the change of the plant’s color, its condition etc. All information is displayed in the relevant app on your device.
Besides, today many farms are using cameras that stream videos in real-time mode to have a visual picture of what is going on. These cameras can be controlled remotely via the app as well.
So there are many alternatives for farmers today. However, now we would like to tell you about our expertise in the development of a certain app for agriculture. We faced the challenge the clients had and found the solution.
The story of Android app for farm development
Our client is a farmer from Israel. He and his team are engaged in planting, cultivating and harvesting flowers and vegetables. After a while, the farmer made a decision to expand the range of products and to plant lemon trees as well. But before turning this idea into a reality, it was necessary to consider all nuances related to the hot climate of the Middle East.
Due to the quick development of science, farming has become a really diversified sphere. We enjoy the fruits of this industry, and sometimes even have no idea how important and labor-intensive this field is. Do you like to taste fresh vegetables or succulent pork steak? I am sure the answer is ‘yes’. That is why the use of modern technologies in present-day farming is unavoidable. These technologies improve farmers’ lives, increase crop yield, reduce costs, etc. In fact, they have changed the face of this industry as well as our perception of it.
Farmers all over the world are actively integrating smart solutions into various sectors of their work. The development of such solutions requires a good and experienced team of developers who can implement all customers’ requirements. Our company can boast about being engaged in the app development for controlling the growth level of lemon trees. Do you want to know how? This article will reveal you the secret!
What is automated farming?
Do you use your smartphone or tablet for controlling? No matter of what exactly, whether it be your bank account, smart bulb or air conditioner. You can apply such control functions in an agricultural area as well.!
What is better – mobile app or mobile website? You can find out it in our article How To Choose Between Mobile Website and Mobile App?
With the help of your gadget, it will be possible to monitor:
- plants’ growth, soil quality;
- irrigation systems;
- condition of crops etc.
It allows you to save your time and money since you can respond quickly to any problem. At the same time, an automated system is able to do almost everything the previous generations had to cope with manually. But apart from smart and complex software, you shouldn’t forget about appropriate hardware. The combination of hardware and software is fundamental.
On the farm of future humans, visual monitoring will only be necessary at the stage of sowing plants and their germination. Other actions concerning the cultivation of plants will be completely automated. With the help of the stacking crane, the seedling will be placed into the ground. Harvesting and packing will also be handled automatically. The automated process of farming is eco-friendly and suits any climate conditions.
Robots are gradually replacing people not only from production lines, call centers, and other industries but from farms also. Who knows, maybe soon there will be completely robotic farms that will breed, feed, milk, and carve cows and other animals in a standalone way. And these farms will provide us with an uninterrupted supply of meat, milk, fruits, and vegetables.
Technical solutions for agriculture
Scientists and engineers are working on the development of high-tech sensors for farming and agriculture especially. Sensors can be installed on the irrigation system for controlling the water supply. Thus, sensors track water levels, temperature, and solar energy. When enough water is supplied, the system shuts off automatically.
In addition, sensors are also installed in soil or directly on plants. Mesh sensor networks make it possible for the user to see the ripening process, the change of the plant’s color, its condition etc. All information is displayed in the relevant app on your device.
Besides, today many farms are using cameras that stream videos in real-time mode to have a visual picture of what is going on. These cameras can be controlled remotely via the app as well.
So there are many alternatives for farmers today. However, now we would like to tell you about our expertise in the development of a certain app for agriculture. We faced the challenge the clients had and found the solution.
The story of Android app for farm development
Our client is a farmer from Israel. He and his team are engaged in planting, cultivating, and harvesting flowers and vegetables. After a while, the farmer made a decision to expand the range of products and to plant lemon trees as well. But before turning this idea into a reality, it was necessary to consider all nuances related to the hot climate of the Middle East.!
What will virtual reality be in the future? Read Is Virtual Reality Real? Looking into the future
India is a rather advanced country in respect to modern technologies. And farms there are equipped with automated fertilizers, irrigation systems, and humidity controls. Equipment is outfitted with GPS systems, so our client wanted to systematize all the data that was gathered. Therefore, he chose our company as his conscientious and skilled team of mobile app and web developers.
Looking for solutions
The farmer set the task and explained to us what he wants to get in his future mobile app. The app must make analysis, calculations, draw up schedules of watering. In turn, specialists told him about our possibilities and proposed relevant strategies for implementation. After fruitful discussions, the client got an estimation and we started working. Within one week our designers provided the farmer with wireframes of the future app, and he approved it. The development had begun.
Features of the farming app include:
- Automation of fertilizers and calculations of water consumption
- Data synchronization and statistics reports sent to the e-mail
- Area selection and GPS tracking
- Working in offline mode
- Control of all facilities remotely
- Fertilizer calculator
- Built-in calendar
Technologies used for the app development
Support for API 9 level. Set of programming tools that allow the client to use Android versions starting from 2.1.
RX Java. Library for composing of the programming code greenDAO. Tool for object-relational database mapping.
Butterknife. Tool for code optimization.
Project handover
The main goal of the app was to make all operations related to farming well-organized and systematic.
During the testing process, some changes were implemented in UX to make the app appropriate for the client. After the release, our client has become a beta tester since he needed to check all the technical capabilities his app had. One month later we got feedback and learned that the app met our client’s requirements. Now his life is moving more towards the digital era. An innovative approach to the app’s creation helped our company reach a new height of experience.
The role of the software developers is to improve the life of potential users. Farmers are among them. So probably all farmers would like to reduce the share of human efforts and increase their revenue and production volume at the same time. We are cooperating with them and assisting them in the implementation of new and creative ideas. Have a farm and want to optimize it? Great! Please, don’t hesitate to contact us. We will choose the right way exactly for you!