ICT in agriculture
Encyclopedia
The application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in agriculture is increasingly important.
E-Agriculture is an emerging field focusing on the enhancement of agricultural and rural development through improved information and communication processes. More specifically, e-Agriculture involves the conceptualization, design, development, evaluation and application of innovative ways to use information and communication technologies (IT) in the rural domain, with a primary focus on agriculture. E-Agriculture is a relatively new term and we fully expect its scope to change and evolve as our understanding of the area grows.
E-Agriculture is one of the action lines identified in the declaration and plan of action of the World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS). The "Tunis Agenda for the Information Society," published on 18 November 2005, emphasizes the leading facilitating roles that UN agencies need to play in the implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO
) has been assigned the responsibility of organizing activities related to the action line under C.7 ICT Applications on E-Agriculture.
The main phases of the agriculture
industry are: Crop cultivation, Water management
, Fertilizer Application, Fertigation
, Pest management
, Harvesting, Post harvest
handling, Transporting of food/food products
, Packaging, Food preservation
, Food processing
/value addition, Food quality management
, Food safety
, Food storage
, Food marketing
.
All stakeholders of agriculture industry need information and knowledge about these phases to manage them efficiently. Any system applied for getting information and knowledge for making decisions in any industry should deliver accurate, complete, concise information in time or on time. The information provided by the system must be in user-friendly form, easy to access, cost-effective and well protected from unauthorized accesses.
The main focus of this article is to elaborate how the achievements of IT can be applied in Agriculture sector and its development. The main applications of ICT in Agriculture sector are listed below
is application of computers, computer networks, telephone networks, and other office automation tool such as photocopy machines, scanners, printers, cleaning equipments, electronic security systems to increase the productivity of organizations.
There are many government, private and non-government organizations are involving in agriculture sector and rural development. They all have to work together to give better service to farming community. Therefore, application of office automation is one of the solutions to enhance the efficiency and interconnectivity of the employees work in all above mentioned organizations.
Many computer applications such as MS Office, Internet Explorer
, Open Office
and other tailor made office automation software packages are providing unlimited potential to organizations and individuals to fulfill their day to day data processing requirements to give an efficient service to their customers.
Large agri-business organizations are now using SAP AG
ERP software solutions to automate their business processes.
E-commerce
E-Agriculture is an emerging field focusing on the enhancement of agricultural and rural development through improved information and communication processes. More specifically, e-Agriculture involves the conceptualization, design, development, evaluation and application of innovative ways to use information and communication technologies (IT) in the rural domain, with a primary focus on agriculture. E-Agriculture is a relatively new term and we fully expect its scope to change and evolve as our understanding of the area grows.
E-Agriculture is one of the action lines identified in the declaration and plan of action of the World Summit on the Information Society
World Summit on the Information Society
The World Summit on the Information Society was a pair of United Nations-sponsored conferences about information, communication and, in broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis...
(WSIS). The "Tunis Agenda for the Information Society," published on 18 November 2005, emphasizes the leading facilitating roles that UN agencies need to play in the implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO
Fão
Fão is a town in Esposende Municipality in Portugal....
) has been assigned the responsibility of organizing activities related to the action line under C.7 ICT Applications on E-Agriculture.
The main phases of the agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
industry are: Crop cultivation, Water management
Water management
Water management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. In an ideal world. water management planning has regard to all the competing demands for water and seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands...
, Fertilizer Application, Fertigation
Fertigation
Fertigation is the application of fertilizers, soil amendments, or other water-soluble products through an irrigation system.Chemigation, a related and sometimes interchangeable term, is the application of chemicals through an irrigation system...
, Pest management
Pest control
Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest, usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the economy.-History:...
, Harvesting, Post harvest
Post-harvest handling
In agriculture, postharvest handling is the stage of crop production immediately following harvest, including cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing. The instant a crop is removed from the ground, or separated from its parent plant, it begins to deteriorate...
handling, Transporting of food/food products
Food miles
Food miles is a term which refers to the distance food is transported from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer. Food miles are one factor used when assessing the environmental impact of food, including the impact on global warming....
, Packaging, Food preservation
Food preservation
Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or slow down spoilage and thus allow for longer storage....
, Food processing
Food processing
Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...
/value addition, Food quality management
Quality management
The term Quality management has a specific meaning within many business sectors. This specific definition, which does not aim to assure 'good quality' by the more general definition , can be considered to have four main components: quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality...
, Food safety
Food safety
Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards....
, Food storage
Food storage
Food storage is both a traditional domestic skill and is important industrially. Food is stored by almost every human society and by many animals...
, Food marketing
Food marketing
Food marketing brings together the producer and the consumer. It is the chain of activities that brings food from “farm gate to plate.” The marketing of even a single food product can be a complicated process involving many producers and companies. For example, fifty-six companies are involved in...
.
All stakeholders of agriculture industry need information and knowledge about these phases to manage them efficiently. Any system applied for getting information and knowledge for making decisions in any industry should deliver accurate, complete, concise information in time or on time. The information provided by the system must be in user-friendly form, easy to access, cost-effective and well protected from unauthorized accesses.
- Record text, drawings, photographs, audio, video, process descriptions, and other information in digital formats,
- Produce exact duplicates of such information at significantly lower cost,
- Transfer information and knowledge rapidly over large distances through communications networks.
- Develop standardized algorithms to large quantities of information relatively rapidly.
- Achieve greater interactivity in communicating, evaluating, producing and sharing useful information and knowledge.
The main focus of this article is to elaborate how the achievements of IT can be applied in Agriculture sector and its development. The main applications of ICT in Agriculture sector are listed below
Application of office automation
The office automationOffice Automation
Office automation refers to the varied computer machinery and software used to digitally create, collect, store, manipulate, and relay office information needed for accomplishing basic tasks. Raw data storage, electronic transfer, and the management of electronic business information comprise the...
is application of computers, computer networks, telephone networks, and other office automation tool such as photocopy machines, scanners, printers, cleaning equipments, electronic security systems to increase the productivity of organizations.
There are many government, private and non-government organizations are involving in agriculture sector and rural development. They all have to work together to give better service to farming community. Therefore, application of office automation is one of the solutions to enhance the efficiency and interconnectivity of the employees work in all above mentioned organizations.
Many computer applications such as MS Office, Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
, Open Office
Open office
Open office may refer to:* OpenOffice.org, a free and open source suite of office productivity programs .* OpenOffice.org XML, a deprecated international file format used by earlier versions of OpenOffice.org....
and other tailor made office automation software packages are providing unlimited potential to organizations and individuals to fulfill their day to day data processing requirements to give an efficient service to their customers.
Large agri-business organizations are now using SAP AG
SAP AG
SAP AG is a German software corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. Headquartered in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg, with regional offices around the world, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software...
ERP software solutions to automate their business processes.
Application of Knowledge Management System
Knowledge Management SystemsApplication of E-commerce
Online purchasing order of agri-inputs and agri-equipments.E-commerce
Application of ICT for managing Agricultural Resources and Services
Agricultural Resources and Services ManagementApplication of CAM
Computer Aided Manufacturing CAMComputer-aided manufacturing
Computer-aided manufacturing is the use of computer software to control machine tools and related machinery in the manufacturing of workpieces. This is not the only definition for CAM, but it is the most common; CAM may also refer to the use of a computer to assist in all operations of a...