To anyone without a green thumb, agriculture seems like magic. Seeds get planted; water is poured; sunlight and shade take their turns with the clock and calendar. And somehow, from these diverse inputs, everything from eggplants to aspidistras arrive on our supermarket shelves in a rainbow of colors and flavors.
Of course, there’s always been magic in the greenhouse: the expertise of farmers and growers that make everything happen. But in recent years, human insight and experience has been joined by the technological kind.
Arrays of sensors that record useful data about conditions in the air and soil. AI is currently able to make decisions that foster healthy growth and higher yields. Equipment in the field that turns data into action, like motors and pumps that open windows and irrigate beds. And – most recent of all – applications that do more than monitor: cloud-based software that models an entire farm in data, taking account of everything from local sensors to weather forecasts to build a “digital twin” that can act as a testing ground for positive change.
At ICT Strypes, we don’t see this smart greenhouse technology as taking away the magic of farming. Just the opposite. Technology is bringing its own kind of magic to the farmer’s skillset, and we’re helping agribusiness professionals succeed with it.
“The global smart farming market is predicted to more than double in five years, going from US$13billion in 2021 to nearly £20billion in 2026.” – BSI Group[1]
Like so much in farming (and in technology in general!) it’s a layered approach, with four distinct stages on the journey to success. Let’s look at them in sequence – and finish with some results.
1. Sensing the landscape: the rise of sensors in the greenhouse
Maximizing crop health no longer needs hordes of workers treading the paths between beds at all hours. What used to take a critical eye and a clipboard now happens 24/7 without human labor, with sensors and meters collecting steady streams of data from many locations. It’s called the IoT.
IoT technology – the “Internet of Things”, small but useful devices connected to the internet in large numbers – has long been used by industries to check conditions at remote sites or hard-to-reach areas like oil rigs or offshore wind farms … but now IoT in greenhouse farming has truly arrived. And it’s not limited to simple metrics like temperature and humidity, either. Today’s sensors are:
- Measuring concentrations of CO2, promoting ideal conditions for plant growth
- Checking soil acidity and alkalinity in precise areas, letting you optimize each section
- Watching ambient light, making the most of every minute of free sunlight
- Checking air pressure, as a predictor of incoming weather
- Even overseeing the “color” of a run of plants, since changes can report health
Many of the devices are simple – often recording a single metric, and sending one data point every few minutes to a software application. But that’s the point. Simple means small, robust, and often cheap, meaning a large greenhouse operation can deploy thousands of them across a wide area – covering the entire investment. They’re connected wirelessly, so no cables in the soil to twist or rot. Which makes them flexible – a temperature sensor is just as useful among hothouse flowers as cool-climate root vegetables.
Thousands of single-purpose devices, connected into a web of data, makes the greenhouse intelligent. Information about everything under glass is at your fingertips. And that’s just the start.
2. Data made real: from monitoring to action
Information means little unless you do something with it. And that’s our second stage of greenhouse automation: using that data to inform intelligent decisions about how to improve processes and yields. Not just “this plant needs more water” – but strategic planning that looks whole seasons ahead.
Once data is streaming into software applications that can report changes and trends over time, more magic happens: the ability to predict what’s coming up. Planning for possible futures has always been part of farming – and data-driven agriculture makes it more accurate than ever. Some ideas:
- Pest risks. From a Biblical plague of locusts to a less dramatic invasive species, pests create changes in data patterns – and software can see them early. Letting beds be treated or glassed areas isolated and potentially saving whole crops.
- Disease spread. Plant disease is as old as agriculture, but today’s preference for organic and natural means pesticide options are fewer – making it vital to take preventive measures in time. Software can combine your greenhouse data with publicly available datasets about infected areas, so you can judge risk and take action.
- Nutrient balance. Sunlight, atmosphere, fertilizers: the best plant nutrition is a balance – and software gives you the information to adjust the mix on the fly, showing you the minimum volumes necessary to achieve the best outcome. So there’s a benefit to your cost side, too.
- Even markets and financial futures exchanges! Predicting the growing cycle’s yields is becoming more and more accurate, thanks to software that uses vast longitudinal[2] datasets to forecast each harvest. But increasingly such software is connected to global markets, letting you project not just production, but profit too.
Smart greenhouse technology is integrated: sensors gathering data, software turning it into information, extra datasets adding value and insight. And that’s not even where IoT in greenhouse farming stops. The next stage: precision horticulture, with plants under complete control.
3. The rise of the machines: Automated Precision Control
A greenhouse isn’t a stack of glass, but a system. As temperatures rise, windows must open; as seasons change, heating must be switched on or watering schedules adjusted. More and more, the daily work of crop growth is being done by machines, an army of workers in the greenhouse 24/7. These uncomplaining laborers are:
- In pipes and hoses, drip-feeding precise amounts of water to individual plants
- At ceiling height, opening and closing windows in increments over the day
- In the walls, controlling ventilation and fan systems to keep air flowing
- On the beds, constantly switching warming mats and ultraviolet lamps on and off to balance cost with benefit
Like sensors, these machines are also on the IoT – and also like sensors, they’re often used in large numbers; there may be several machines to a single valuable plant. What matters is each machine is designed for a specific job in a specific location, so the ideal conditions for each plant can be maintained. (What’s right for orchids rarely works for onions.)
It’s true precision horticulture: farming not at the level of fields or plots, but pinpointing individual living things so each can thrive. Just like human society. Everyone wants the best for their children – and knows they’re not all the same.
4. Running the What-Ifs: Dashboards and Digital Twins
Farming can be surprisingly gamelike: deciding your strategy, gathering your resources, making your move. Which explains the popularity of social media sensations like Farmville. But if things go wrong, the risks for farmers go beyond a few lost Experience Points. One bad decision can mean an entire area under glass losing a year’s output – making accurate prediction and forecasting vital. It’s led to the fourth stage of smart greenhouse technology: the Digital Twin.
Read more about Digital Twins at ICT Strypes HERE.
A DT is a complete model of an agriculture or horticulture business, duplicated in data – the same data your IoT sensors gather each day, from the same sources. Which makes the model accurate – enabling the ability to do What-If scenarios. To poke and prod the data and see what happens when something changes; to see where small changes could make big differences.
Another ICT Strypes piece on Digital Twins HERE.
Imagine having another farm, identical to your own, where you could test new ideas without risk before rolling out the best ones to your main farm. That’s what a Digital Twin does. And best of all, that Digital Twin can evolve and develop as your own greenhouse operation does … because it uses the same data. It’s not a grow bed – it’s a test bed.
Leading to real-world results!
The conclusion is clear: modern farming is a technology business. And when you think about it, it’s not surprising.
Farmers, after all, were the first users of technology. The hoe, the ploughshare, the raised bed, the enclosed hothouse – all these increased the ROI of human effort, as tribes settled into communities and became the first civilisations. The tools have changed … but the goals are the same today.
Smart greenhouse technology is improving yields, boosting profits, saving energy costs, and reducing water and fertilizer use. With crops themselves getting bigger, tastier, and more beautiful – to secure the best prices on world markets. Farming may be the oldest business, but it’s still the most exciting.
Conclusion
This is what we do at ICT Strypes. Not just “write code”. We’re genuinely exhilarated by technology in agriculture and how we can help growers make the most of it. So can we talk?
[1] https://www.bsigroup.com/globalassets/localfiles/en-gb/bsi-knowledge/bsi-knowledge-food/bsi_smart_farming_report.pdf
[2] Data recorded over time, for example a graph of soil moisture over an entire season
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