Breaking the Digital Frontier with Mobile Apps for Agriculture

There was a time when technology and agriculture were at opposite ends of the value chain spectrum. Not anymore! Today, we have ample evidence to substantiate the role of a mobile application for agriculture and multiple reasons to prove its irrevocable dependency in farming operations. According to Statista, smart agriculture is expected to grow from $12.4 billion in 2020 to $34.1 billion by 2026.

21st century farmers are less likely to be considered progressive if they don’t use modern technology in agriculture, like mobile apps. It is why, nowadays, many farmers prefer to build organic food e-commerce platforms (e-commerce mobile applications) to interact directly with customers or/and the B2B market.

How Mobile Seeped into Agriculture?

Thanks to the scale of unprecedented, accelerated industrial development, that now mobile application for agriculture have found cross-fit applications for every stage of the food production supply chain.

Human-rendered climate issues, naturally occurring soil erosion, fertilizer-induced mineral depletion, and the downgrading of the water level are some visible forces impacting agriculture drastically. 

Since these problems are interconnected, they require some revolutionary means to resolve them. It is where technology and agriculture come closer to fixing the issues and advancing the farming techniques.

Modern farming technology varies in terms of application depending on whether the country is developing or developed. Typically, in developing countries, agricultural apps are often used by food traders/suppliers as farm management is driven by manual labor, whereas, in developed countries where on-farm activities are machine-driven, farmers have acclimatized themselves only to the use of agriculture apps. 

They realize the value addition with ground results that immediately materialize with apps for farming will offer numerous benefits like resource optimization, time-saving, soil nurturing, and more. 

Still unsure how mobile apps can improve the efficiency and productivity of agricultural processes? Well, to get a better understanding, let’s dive deep into the multifarious roles and benefits of agriculture apps.

Also Read: How technology advancements are continuing to transform the agriculture industry

What Is the Use of Mobile Apps in Agriculture?

Mobile applications for agriculture are increasingly being used to help farmers manage their farms more efficiently and effectively.

Let’s have a deeper look to understand what are mobile apps used for in agriculture.

Crop Management

Mobile applications in agriculture assist farmers in crop management by providing information on soil quality, weather patterns, and pest control measures. Some apps even use machine learning algorithms to predict crop yield and suggest ways to improve it.

Irrigation Management

Mobile apps also provide real-time data on soil moisture levels and weather conditions, which helps farmers improve their irrigation systems. Also, it helps farmers reduce water usage and ensure that their crops are getting the right amount of water.

Livestock Management

With agriculture mobile apps, farmers can also manage their livestock by getting information on feeding schedules, health care, and breeding. Some apps even use GPS technology to track the location of animals in real time.

Market Information

Mobile apps can provide farmers with up-to-date market information on commodity prices, demand, and supply. This can help farmers make informed decisions about when to sell their crops or livestock.

Farm Accounting

One of the most significant features of the farming app is farm accounting which helps farmers keep track of their financial records, such as income and expenses. This can help farmers manage their finances more effectively and make better decisions about investments and expenses.

Overall, with the right use of mobile apps in agriculture, farmers can improve their productivity and profitability by gaining quick access to critical information. 

What Are the Benefits of Mobile Apps in Agriculture?

The demand for food is an ongoing challenge that requires innovative solutions. Mobile apps can help address this issue by increasing agricultural productivity and connecting farmers with one another. This technology can be used in a sophisticated way to help meet the needs of the global population. By leveraging the power of mobile apps, farmers can access the resources and information they need to increase their yields and connect with other farmers to share best practices. This intelligent approach to agricultural production can help ensure a steady supply of food for the future. 

Let’s discuss in detail how agriculture mobile app development can help farmers.

Increases Efficiency

Mobile apps for agriculture can help farmers manage their farms more efficiently by providing real-time information on weather conditions, soil quality, and crop management. This information can help farmers make better decisions about when to plant, fertilize, and harvest their crops.

Maximizes Productivity

By providing farmers with the tools to manage their farms more effectively, mobile apps can help increase productivity. For example, by tracking crop growth and identifying potential issues early, farmers can take steps to address problems, prevent crop losses, and increase yields.

Improves Sustainability

Mobile apps can also help farmers reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and increase sustainability. For example, by using precision agriculture techniques to optimize crop growth, farmers can reduce using fertilizers and other chemicals.

Alerts against Impediment 

For those with considerable farm holdings, large-scale sensors can be installed on the field whose collective data can be accessed through app dashboards. The analysis could include information as per the nature of sensors, such as vulnerable patches for pest infestation, a failing batch of crops, and nutrient deficiency, among others. Farmers can utilize this information to take preventive measures and save yields.

Better Decision-Making

Smartphone apps in agriculture act as an information enabler in geographies with poor ICT infrastructure. With smartphones getting affordable by the minute, marginal farmers can download and learn from ready-to-use practical guides and access active channels to purchase relevant tools. It provides farmers with up-to-date information on market conditions, commodity prices, and supply and demand. This can help farmers make informed decisions about when to sell their crops, how much to sell, and whom to sell.

Reduces Costs

Since agriculture mobile apps assist farmers in managing their farms more efficiently and effectively, they can save big on expenses. For example, by reducing water usage through better irrigation management, farmers can save on water costs.

Educates Farmers

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can be used through a mobile-compatible app to educate farmers on soil management practices to optimize crop production.

One can observe the expanding reach of technology in agriculture all around, and its positive impact is quite palpable.

Trends for Farming Apps Proliferation

Smart agriculture is a widening movement that shows how farmers aim to reform crop yields and returns. It brings to the fore the much glocal (global + local) role that ICT will play as part of upscaling the business positives of farming. Product sales powered by consumer demand point to the billion-dollar market size will continue to head up.

Any attempt to transfer the regenerative power, not only of crops but also profits, back into the hands of farmers must begin at the most widely reachable point for all, mobile phones. With the computing power of desktops stuffed into handsets, enterprise businesses can easily launch apps for agriculture that target niche areas. 

One such area of smart farming that piques both the farmer’s and investor’s interest in this field is precision farming. It employs the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analytics to overcome traditional shortcomings such as labor shortage, unpredictable weather, and harvesting times. By exploring the variety of solutions of such modern technology used in agriculture, we can see the opportunity scope for mobile apps.

Types of Mobile Applications for Agriculture

Farmers are gradually getting accustomed to using advanced technologies to manage their processes. These functions include land management, weather forecasting, crop quality, horticulture, soil quality, and fertilizer utilization. 

With the introduction of various new technologies like AI, AR/VR, and Blockchain, there are various types of mobile apps too catering to the various needs of farmers. Based on features and functionalities, mobile application development for farming can engineer the following types of solutions:

Also Read: Implementation of AI in Agriculture

Peer-to-Peer Information Sharing

Mobile app development can be steered to create information-sharing groups for a close-knit community of farmers. Since the soil conditions range from one place to another, democratizing information flows can benefit everyone. 

Online Lending for Farmers

An app could be farming cum financial in nature, where not just information but financial assistance in the form of loans could be disbursed. It could even create an e-commerce marketplace where access to inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and on-demand labor is provided. 

B2B Farming Store 

Providing an auctioning platform where food producers could get justified prices is highly opportunistic. Provided you have a strong network of farmers subscribed to the platform, food procuring businesses could save crucial time and energy by submitting bids and winning the auction, at the same time offering farmers handsome prices. 

Weather Forecasting Apps 

Many open sources for weather information utilize government satellite data and the publicly available history of geographic records to predict changes. A mobile app development company takes this a step up. Its skilled engineers integrate an in-built gyroscope and barometer in applications, which helps in weather forecasting. 

GPS Tracking 

The human eye can barely make out the difference in ground levels and assume the landscape to be naturally flat. It makes it hard to study top-soil conditions once the crop foliage grows beyond a certain extent. GPS trackers can guide farmers to target specific parts for leveling. Geo-fencing can study a selected region of crops and share key performance indicators to optimize yields and precisely plow furrows.

Livestock Management Apps 

Custom application development is tailor-made for livestock farms. The livestock management software provides information on feeding schedules, health care, and breeding. Additionally, these types of apps also feature GPS technology, which helps track the real time location of animals. It further helps register, process, and suggest the scope of improvement at every step of the operation. Farms can be classified as per their business model, which ranges from breeding, feedlots, and dairies to industrial meat processors. Such apps can digitize farm management chores and save big on cost. 

Plausible Features of Farming Apps

There are a number of agriculture mobile apps readily available in the market, but the farmers often turn to custom solutions that liberate them in terms of UI/UX, storage, speed, and computing power to process information swiftly. However, incorporating every second feature into the app is not really a smart move. Also, it will increase the app development cost without adding much value to the farming business. 

Don’t let it discourage you from getting a feature-rich farming app. Instead, get one build with essential features. Here’s a list of 6 must-have features of farm management apps to consider in 2023. Remember, this is just an implied checklist and not a set-in-stone word. 

Drone Synchronization

The commercial drone segment is one that packs a punch with promises of heavy returns. In the US alone, agriculture stakes claim a considerable allotment of drone installations. Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles open up a multitude of scopes for automation and time consumption. Farmers can use them for field vigilance, precision spraying, and pest detection. Mounting them with thermal cameras can even help farmers assess water spillage and or excessive damping from drip irrigation. Drone sync and remote control through apps would surely be a feature that will benefit farmers and agriculture alike. 

In-App Chat

Chatbots – where human answers or machine answers contribute significantly to a business growth story. It is a fundamental feature of any app that aims to establish a two-way line with the customers. Be it local farming networks or advisory services, a chat window would encourage farmers to openly discuss pressing issues or report new findings about anything related to farming. If not human-aided, answers could be pre-fed to the app with the freemium app model offering expert interaction on a pay as you go basis.

Related Article: How Chatbot Development is Shaping The Business Growth Story

Machine Vision & Cloud Storage Support 

That plain old video conferencing doesn’t fascinate anymore. Anybody with a Google Duo, WhatsApp, or Skype Mobile could video call for free. What’s more? Real-time image processing coupled with machine learning will take this feature to the platinum standard. Software developers refer to it as machine vision. 

With this feature, farmers can upload images of crops, processing which the AI-powered backend could point to an impending pest invasion that is still not ripe enough to surface. The uninitiated farmer could put the crops under a scanner (literally) and take requisite measures to salvage what is left of them. 

Informational Guides 

Since the profit margins are scanty for most farmers, it is not a surprise that they are averse to casual experimentation with their choice of crops. But when they get into the temptation, wouldn’t it be convenient to have a ready-to-apply encyclopedic guide for different crops? Thus, dedicating a section of the farming app with good-to-know information will immensely benefit first-time growers of a crop. It would be better if the app features a list of high-rated agricultural products along with trusted distributors and their contact information. 

Payment Gateway 

This might seem like the least important feature for a farming app, but what if you plan to create a full-fledged e-commerce application? In that case, you must enable the app to process payments through a gateway.  

Weather Forecasts

Earlier, we mentioned an app to help farmers judge the weather and its working mechanism. If not a standalone application, you can still integrate it as a side feature of a larger app. Although you would have to hire an app development company to accomplish an all-inclusive mobile app with peripheral features that impact farming big time, yet the effort would be worth it. 

Develop Cutting-Edge Mobile Applications For Agriculture With Appinventiv

Appinventiv is a multi-award-winning agriculture software development services provider specializing in building and upgrading state-of-the-art applications for agriculture and other domains. We offer comprehensive agriculture software development solutions to cater to the diverse app requirements of farmers and suppliers.

Our custom mobile application for agriculture will benefit your farming business by various means, generating better crops and higher revenue. 

So, if you are ready to experience a digital revolution in your agriculture business, talk to our experts now. 

FAQs

Q. What are mobile apps used for in agriculture

A. There are various uses of mobile apps in agriculture that help farmers manage their farms more efficiently such as

• Crop Management
• Irrigation Management
• Livestock Management
• Market Information
• Farm Accounting

Q. What are the benefits of mobile apps in agriculture?

A. Mobile apps for agriculture can help farmers by various means when developed right and used for the right purposes. Here’s a list of some common benefits of an agriculture app:

• Increases Efficiency
• Maximizes Productivity
• Improves Sustainability
• Alerts against Impediments
• Better Decision-Making
• Reduces Costs
• Educates Farmers

Q. What devices are used for smart farming?

A. The (IoT) is revolutionizing the agriculture industry.. By combining robots, remote sensors, drones, and computer imaging with AI, ML and analytical tools, farmers can monitor crops, survey and map fields, and access data for rational farm management plans. This technology helps farmers save time and money, while also improving the efficiency and productivity of their operations.

THE AUTHOR

Sudeep Srivastava

Co-Founder and Director