From Traditional to Agriculture 5.0: How M2M Systems Connects Management, Traceability and Enables Modern Agribusiness

In addition to contributing to a relevant share of the country’s GDP, agribusiness has shown itself to be resilient even during the new coronavirus pandemic. It’s no surprise, therefore, that whenever you think about emerging digital technologies like artificial intelligence, big data, the internet of things (IoT), autonomous vehicles, edge computing, blockchain and 5G, you quickly think about how to apply them in the field.

The use of most of these technologies in agro, however, is nothing new. Whether with 4G or through other types of unlicensed connections, the industry has been finding ways to enable some use cases that generate significant gains in efficiency.

While 4G currently serves most of the existing use cases in agribusiness, the maturing of the OEM ecosystem, the growth of computing capacity and cheaper components should allow the emergence of new industrial applications based on IoT that will require higher speeds and lower latency that 4G offers — therefore, 5G solves this performance gap.

The possibility of collecting, processing and processing data in real time is the basis of a movement to modernize and automate the cultivation process that promotes greater assertiveness in activities, drives results and improves product quality, making each step more intelligent: Smart Farming.

To achieve these goals some of the solutions presented by smart farming are:

• Real-time information and data extraction;
• Decision making based on calculations and forecasts;
• Data driven management;
• Application of efficient actions through the use of smart tools.

Read on to understand more deeply how M2M Systems impacts this new approach in the field and why investing in 5.0 technology is important for a better future for your business.

Because Agriculture 5.0 is the future of the sector

First, it is of great importance to understand that 4G cellular technology has global reach, and based on existing cellular networks, billions of IoT devices can already be connected. With the arrival of the 5G internet, systems will have lower latency and greater support for large volumes of mobile devices.

By the end of 2026, we project 5G to have 3.5 billion subscriptions covering 60% of the world’s population. Meanwhile, the number of cellular IoT connections (physical components connected to the Internet) is expected to reach 6 billion worldwide, up from 2 billion today.

All this is relevant because one of the main points of Agriculture 5.0 is the ability to connect equipment not only in the field, but expand into logistics and industries — and it is through mobile devices that this will be possible.

Cellular IoT has the ability to meet the relatively simpler requirements of the market, as well as the sensitive and highly specific demands of complex environments and applications.

Cellular IoT technology allows, for example, the system to trigger an alert that your customer needs a new batch of products and generate an order automatically — allowing quick management and adding value to the business.

The 5.0 agriculture carries more demanding concepts, ranging from improved management to ease of obtaining quality certifications — increasingly demanded by the growing demand for sustainable products nationally and internationally. These requirements require a much higher level of connectivity and systems integration, which will be enabled by IoT and 5G.

Tools such as drones, sensors, GPS, management software and satellite images enable real-time analysis of each stage of production — making it possible to verify soil conditions and the need for irrigation and spraying; climate conditions; machinery productivity control; track fleets and find better routes; data integration that provides history of activities, their results, and more.

This means that with real-time control of all areas and stages, it is plausible to predict scenarios and take assertive decisions — improving your results, reducing costs and making your agriculture more efficient.

How M2M Systems supports smart management in the field

M2M Systems is a pioneer in 5G networks in Brazil and worldwide, launching the first fifth-generation mobile network in Latin America in 2020.

Check out how M2M Systems is contributing to 5.0 agriculture in practice below.

And to broaden your knowledge, read how a Smart Farm works through our infographic: Smart Farm and 5G: How modern crop management works.

High speed data transfer

As mentioned at the beginning of the content, in order to connect a range of devices in real time and provide a high-speed IoT experience, it is important to have a large data transmission capacity and low latency.

These features of the 5G internet and IoT platforms allow the use of autonomous vehicles such as tractors and trucks; drones for intelligent pest and weed control; identification and location of fires in agricultural areas and much more.

With 5G, drones and other machines make it possible to transmit videos in real time — it is possible to identify, for example, a pest and, in the same flight, apply the necessary products to contain it (See and Spray).

The difference here is real time. Today the drone pilot films the crop and downloads the footage at the end of the day, but this process takes hours. And with the use of 4G and 5G internet this process can be automated and be done as soon as the images are generated. This efficiency gain is essential in other contexts as well, such as when a fire is located and needs to be contained immediately. Finding and taking immediate action at this point can save an entire crop and avoid financial losses, as well as saving lives.

Protection of assets and employees using big data

Big data technology is basically a large collection of online data, protected in the cloud and accessible from anywhere in the world. Big data applied in agriculture management allows the manager to have control of all stages, machines in operation and assets of his business — bringing knowledge of which places need more labor, or which equipment is not working properly.

This macro-environment view is important to improve administrative management and, in addition, ensure greater safety for employees.

For example, by reading the sensors installed on a harvester online, it is possible to identify if the equipment is about to break down, and anticipate its maintenance, or even send a pause command to prevent the failure from causing more serious damage. . This is done based on artificial intelligence algorithms that are based on the historical behavior of equipment and performance data stored in the cloud. This protects not only the equipment, but also the people who operate it.

Big data is also essential in precision agriculture. Storing detailed historical data about the conditions of each field, as well as weather and weather data, is essential for artificial intelligence algorithms to make accurate predictions about input needs, as well as yield estimates for the next season.

Creating an efficient ecosystem between machines and people

The use of automated vehicles, drones, ground sensors and trackers demonstrated, through tests carried out by M2M Systems, a considerable improvement in business management, making it more efficient.

It is worth remembering that to create an efficient ecosystem, the use of the cellular network is vital. Due to its global reach, an innovation that appears anywhere in the world can be brought to our market quickly, ensuring agility in the implementation of new technologies. And it is worth remembering that cellular devices are used all over the world, which increases the scale and makes equipment cheaper in the medium term.

M2M Systems Massive IoT solution meets the main requirements for low cost devices, extensive coverage, security and long battery life (this battery can last up to 10 years). The solution is based on standard 3GPP technologies, including NB-IoT and Cat-M1.

That said, the digitization of processes using automated vehicles, soil sensors and drones allows the agricultural manager to develop better actions, predict scenarios and make instantaneous and assertive decisions from anywhere.

To exemplify in practice how M2M Systems has supported the creation of a journey towards agriculture 5.0, we can mention the partnership with São Martinho, a world reference in agro-industrial management.

M2M Systems is enabling the 5G internet along with its IoT connectivity solutions that will increase São Martinho’s efficiency in processes that require high data transfer speed and very low latency (response time) such as the use of autonomous vehicles such as tractors and trucks, drones for intelligent control of pests and weeds, identification and location of fires in their agricultural areas.

Agribusiness is growing exponentially and represents a valuable slice of Brazil’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product), being one of the most important sectors for the economy, reaching a share of 26.6% in 2020, against 20.5% in 2019, according to a survey carried out by Cepea (Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics), from Esalq/USP, carried out in partnership with the CNA (Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil.

In this expansion scenario, producers who start to adopt the technologies in their fields will come out ahead — since only 29% of rural properties are currently connected.

M2M Systems has expertise in the global technology market and seeks to enable 5G in urban and rural environments to transform the reality of various segments — promoting more security, increased profits and precision for business.