Farmer’s Weekly – 30 August 2019

a farming business,”
he says. “For example,
a precision farming
software programme
or sensor should ideally
be able to pay for itself
multiple times over via
the savings or profits
that it’s supposed to
generateonthefarm.”

A dAtA-hAndling
collAborAtion
One such data-
handling platform
already available
to South African farmers is
MyFarmWeb, a design, supply
and support collaboration
between precision farming
and crop protection products
supplier and consultancy Agri
Technovation Laeveld Agrochem
and mobile telecommunications
company Vodacom, through
its subsidiary, Mezzanine.
De Vries says it is critical to
have a mobile telecoms company
as a partner in MyFarmWeb
because mobile connectivity
is an essential component for
the wireless transmission of
data between a farm business’s
IoT devices, the MyFarmWeb
platform, and the business’s
managers and independent
consultants, who access, analyse
and respond to this data. He
adds that Vodacom realised the
importance of connectivity as an
enabler of precision agriculture
solutions and services, and
made available a range of data
communications services to
farmers and agribusinesses that
do not have Global System for
Mobile (GSM) communication
coverage on their farms or at
their business premises.
There are a number of services
linked to MyFarmWeb in South
Africa and other countries. One
such service is precision soil
classification, using grid sampling
andgeographicpositioning.
InSouthAfrica,this
totals 800 000ha, and is
capable of generating soil
characteristics for differing
zones within single fields.

The information derived from

this allows for the correct

placement of soil moisture

probes, matching the most

profitable crops to specific

fields, identifying shortfalls

in soil nutrients and moisture,

and then applying the exact

quantities of these using variable

rate application equipment,

checking the health of soil

life, and determining optimal

seeding rates and plant spacing.

“The soil moisture analysis

service, which is also linked to

MyFarmWeb, has found that

many farmers tend to over-

irrigate their crops, which is

wasteful of both water and

production costs,” says De Vries.

“Farmers using MyFarmWeb now

know exactly when and where

to irrigate, and to apply only

the necessary water volumes.

“This system can even monitor

the quality of the irrigation water

and advise on the treatments

needed to improve the quality

of this water. Another existing

service is precision pests and

diseases monitoring, which

locates specific problem areas

within a crop for targeted,

instead of blanket, treatment.”

there’s more to come

On their own, the precision

agriculture systems highlighted

by De Vries generate such a vast

quantity and diversity of data

that without a platform such

as MyFarmWeb to convert it

into an understandable format,

farmers would be swamped.

And yet there are additional

services that are being linked, or

will be linked in the future, to

MyFarmWeb. These services will

generate even greater quantities

and diversity of data, which

will further improve on the

goalsandoutcomesofprecision

TOP RIGHT:

There are many

companies

developing and

supplying drone

technology for

digitally managing

agricultural

production.

DJI-AGRAS

ABOVE:

Precision

agriculture

technologies can

help a farmer

monitor scarce

resources, such

as irrigation

water, and to use

these resources

efficiently and

cost-effectively.

FW ARCHIVE

ERIk dEVRIEs

LL

oy

DP

HILLIPS

30 August 2019 farmer’sweekly 39