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Smarter Farming In The Developing World Via The Internet Of Things

Smarter Farming In The Developing World Via The Internet Of Things

By David Bradley

The Internet of Things (IoT) can be described as a loose network of physical devices that might be embedded with sensors, software, and connectivity. While a holistic view would see the IoT as being all the devices in the world with internet connectivity, it is often the case that these portable or remote devices are accessible within clusters or around hubs with specialist access and applications. Nevertheless, devices in the IoT can collect and exchange data with other devices or systems over the internet.

IoT devices can range from everyday consumer devices like smartphones,  such as refrigerators, , and wearable monitors, and fitness devices, to industrial equipment and infrastructure in smart cities, factories, and transportation systems. The data generated by these objects can be analyzed and used to gain insights, automate processes, and improve decision-making across various industries and domains.

Research in the International Journal of Cloud Computing, has looked at the need to improve technologies associated with database management in order to be able to better handle the large amounts of data generated by the IoT. The paper focuses on the use of IoT technology in the social and agricultural domains in rural sectors. In that context, there is a need for improvements that could benefit monitoring, farming conditions and practices. If it were possible to provide and implement adaptive, efficient remote and logistic operations using IoT devices, such as actuators and valves, then dynamic integration might be possible to improve various processes in farming, such as timely irrigation. This would allow savings on water, for instance, but also optimize irrigation to improve  based on changing weather and other conditions.

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Developing disease resistance in new wheat varieties

Video: Developing disease resistance in new wheat varieties


Dr. Colin Hiebert, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – Morden, is focused on developing new tools that wheat breeders can use to improve, diversify and strengthen disease resistance in new wheat varieties. This includes new genomic tools that address resistance to five diseases including: Fusarium head blight, leaf rust, stripe rust, stem rust and common bunt.

Learn more about how research conducted at AAFC-Morden will impact wheat variety development, production and profitability for the future. This research is part of the Canadian National Wheat Cluster and funding is provided through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta Grains, Sask Wheat, Manitoba Crop Alliance, Western Grains Research Foundation and Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance.