LoRaWAN sensors for agriculture are widely used in Smart agriculture processes. It is bringing in a revolution within the farming sector, introducing cutting-edge technologies that fine-tune crop production, minimize resource consumption, and elevate overall operational efficiency. In this transformative landscape, LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) emerges as a powerful catalyst with the potential to reshape smart agriculture significantly. This piece will delve into the advantages of employing LoRaWAN sensors for agriculture and explore its applications in enhancing farming methodologies.

Smart agriculture relies on a network of interconnected LoRaWAN gateways and sensors, a necessity given the impracticality of running hundreds of sensors on electricity over vast expanses of farmland. Instead, battery-powered devices are utilized, and it's crucial to optimize their energy usage effectively. This is where LoRa gateways come into play as a lifeline. They consume such minimal power that sensors powered by batteries can operate for up to a decade without needing replacements.
Moreover, the LoRaWAN gateway has low bandwidth communication is exceptionally well-suited for practical deployments that involve regular data transmission. Consider an autonomous irrigation system that requires monitoring soil moisture levels at various points across a field. In such applications, there's no need for continuous moisture readings every second or minute. Periodic data collection, perhaps on a daily basis, suffices, allowing for precise control over the irrigation process.

When you have a vast expanse of agricultural land and the need to keep a close eye on it for timely decision-making, manual monitoring becomes impractical and labor-intensive. In such scenarios, the smart approach is to leverage sensors, IoT technology, and a LoRaWAN gateway to enable remote monitoring of a wide array of critical factors.

Cattle Management:
It is impossible to always manage & monitor the livestock; hence LoRaWAN sensors for agriculture are the best solution. Following are the parameters through which cattle management can be done.

Tracking:
You now have the capability to monitor, pinpoint the whereabouts, and ensure the safety of your cattle using a GPS collar. This GPS collar for cattle periodically transmits signals to your livestock management dashboard. You can establish geo-fences to receive alert notifications in case your cattle stray beyond specified boundaries.

Health Monitoring:
Cattle's well-being directly influences the quality and quantity of both their milk and meat, which in turn affects your earnings positively. With LoRaWAN based smart farming solutions, there’s a remarkable innovation: the bio-capsule. This tiny device is implanted within a cow's ruminant stomach, consistently transmitting data to a central dashboard or dedicated application software.
You have the option to personally monitor this data or utilize AI-powered tools to detect any anomalies in the essential body parameters of your cattle. This enables you to not only pinpoint the early signs of illness but also predict the timing of calf deliveries.

Diet Monitoring:
There are occasions when your livestock may require a specialized diet for a certain period. By utilizing the data provided by the health monitoring system, you can make informed decisions, such as implementing a strict dietary regimen or supplementing their regular food with specific nutrients as needed.

Case Study- Automatic Irrigation System Using IoT

Soil Monitoring:
Temperature and humidity monitoring sensors are used for soil monitoring. Soil in the fields is never consistent. Weather conditions and moisture may differ in various areas. Hence, it is necessary to monitor soil parameters all the time with our world class LoRaWAN sensors for agriculture.

Temperature:
You must understand when your plants are not able to breathe. The crucial factor here is relative humidity. LoRaWAN temperature sensor not only monitors soil temperature but also other vital factors, you gain the ability to take swift action to protect your plants.
Soil temperature plays a significant role in determining factors like aeration, the availability of soil moisture, and the uptake of essential plant nutrients. Furthermore, data obtained by LoRaWAN sensor for agriculture serves as a valuable indicator, helping you gauge when your plants require timely irrigation.

Electric conductivity:
Another crucial factor to consider is soil electrical conductivity, which gauges the level of salinity in the soil. Monitoring soil conductivity not only aids in determining the appropriate amount of soil herbicides but also enables you to make forecasts regarding crop yields. It's important to note that irrigating soil with water containing elevated levels of dissolved salts can lead to soil salinity over time, ultimately resulting in a significant reduction in crop yield.

Soil pH
Regularly monitoring the soil's pH level is essential for cultivating healthy crops. Acidic soils, characterized by a pH range of 4.0 to 5.0, can be detrimental to your crop's well-being. This acidity signifies the presence of elevated concentrations of harmful substances for plants, such as soluble aluminum, iron, and manganese. To create optimal conditions for growth, it's advisable to maintain a pH range of approximately 6 to 7 in the soil.

Environment Monitoring:
Environment plays a crucial role in any time of farming output. Here is the checklist for environment monitoring of your farm.

Temperature & Humidity:
Whether your farm is indoor or outdoor, ambient temperature is necessary. Especially when it comes to crops like wheat that are sensitive to even brief fluctuations in temperature, having access to temperature data is crucial. This information can empower you to implement effective strategies to minimize the impact of extreme temperature conditions on your crops.

Wind & Rain:
You can access real-time wind information through robust and highly responsive wind sensors. These sensors are designed to measure both the speed and direction of the wind across your entire field. This data proves invaluable for precise crop spraying, efficient drone operations, and implementing preventive measures to reduce fruit shedding. To make the most of this data, consider adjusting your irrigation practices based on the availability of rainfall. If there has been sufficient rain recently to sustain your crops for a few more days, it's wise to hold off on irrigation.
The key is to manage your farm's irrigation intelligently. By installing rain gauges in your smart agricultural field, you can effectively control the use of water resources in accordance with current weather conditions.

Upon implementing the LoRaWAN agriculture sensors , you achieve an increase in crop yield across various soil types, all while optimizing the utilization of human labor and other input resources. Furthermore, this solution can be tailored to suit a diverse range of crops, encompassing wheat, rice, berries, nuts, cotton, and more.
Our primary objective in developing this solution was to establish the most dependable and top-tier smart agriculture network in the field. To attain this goal, we've employed LoraWAN sensors for agriculture for data gathering and leveraged LoRaWAN technology for transmitting this data.