Smart farming is an important area of digital transformation as farming resources such as fertilizer and water are expensive. Without technology, farms had no idea how well they were performing relative to other local farms.

Do they use too much water per apple grown, etc.

Technology will allow farmers to know what is happening on their farms with incredible detail.

To take advantage of this opportunity, Semtech the supplier of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms, announced that Oizom, an Internet of Things (IoT) solution provider for environmental applications, leveraged Semtech’s LoRa devices and Tata Communications’ LoRaWAN-based networking infrastructure for its new Agribot smart agriculture solution.

This news comes just days after our colleague Ken Briodagh broke the news about LoRa devices including those from SemTech are being used to improve food safety.

“As water becomes an increasingly rare and expensive resource worldwide, smart agriculture solutions with Semtech’s LoRa devices allow farmers to accurately monitor their irrigation systems,” said Sohil Patel, Chief Technology Officer at Oizom. “The LoRa-based Agribot sensor is easy to install and leverages the LoRaWAN protocol to provide accurate soil irrigation data, even in areas without Cellular coverage. With access to sensor data, farmers can optimize their water usage and create smarter, more efficient and profitable farms.”

Agribot is a LoRa-enabled wireless IoT system that offers farmers real-time insight into the health of their crops by monitoring soil conditions including humidity and pH. The sensor also leverages LoRa to monitor water level for wet crops such as rice. Data from LoRa-based sensors allow farmers to make smarter decisions in the irrigation of their crops, improving crop yield. A recent pilot project of Agribot in Tirupati, India resulted in a reduction of farm water and electricity consumption by up to 26 percent following deployment. The sensors report soil condition data through Cloud-based servers using LoRaWAN-based networks from Tata Communications (News – Alert), a LoRa Alliance®member and leading global network provider. LoRaWAN-based networks provide coverage up to 30 miles in rural areas, allowing agriculture sensors to connect to the Cloud in areas with unreliable or nonexistent network coverage.

“Semtech’s LoRa devices provide the proven feature set necessary for real-time data monitoring and long-range Cloud connectivity, making it the optimal IoT solution for smart agriculture applications,” said Marc Pegulu, Vice President of IoT for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “With LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN protocol’s proven capabilities, Oizom is able to accelerate a product to market quickly while capturing a wide range of soil data in a variety of environmental temperatures.”

We are impressed with SemTechs progress – we fondly recall their great ambitions in LoRaWAn they shared with us in 2017.

Learn more about IoT and cybersecurity at IoT Evolution, part of the ITEXPO TECHSUPERSHOW, Feb 12-14, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.