Agriculture 4.0 and its 6 main characteristics
By Martín Guimaraens
There are several fundamental aspects for the success of an agricultural project and one of them is the rational, efficient and effective use of the resources that you have.
In this sense, the efficient management of an agricultural project is of vital importance and we all agree that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to manage what is not measured.
In this context, an agricultural management telemetry system can be your great collaborator.
We identified six 6 characteristics that are essential for this system to become a reliable and easy-to-use tool.
1 – Reliable sensors:
Sensors are the pillars of the system, the foundations of everything we will build: Bad sensors give bad data and if we are going to base our decisions on bad data, we should not expect good results from our management. Conclusion don’t save money on sensors. By definition budgets are finite, prefer to install few reliable sensors and then add more rather than install many that do not give you reliable data.
2 – A robust registration and communication system:
We must ensure that this system is robust and designed to operate in the various conditions that can occur in the field. The system must always operate and not depend exclusively on the connection to the cloud that can be interrupted throughout the day. Likewise, there are certain data that must always be collected and in this sense the system must have adequate backup and autonomy to operate even without power supply.
3 – A friendly viewing and management platform.
This platform, which will show you what is happening in your field, will be your ally and therefore should be as user-friendly and intuitive as possible. In addition, you will program and control your infrastructure with it. Ideally it should be designed for you and tailored to your requirements. In it should be everything you need and nothing to distract or be useless.
4 – Reports adapted to your needs.
Your company has different operational levels and each of them is interested in different aspects of the data that it will collect and store. The irrigation manager needs to have simple and fast access to the programming of the different sectors as well as to know the availability of water, while the agricultural manager will wait for the solution to provide high-level statistics on the use and efficiency of the entire process. Hiring a flexible service is the only way for all the stakeholders involved to get the information they need simply and easily, presented in the way they need.
5 – Scalability and adaptability:
Expect your business to grow or change over time. The telemetry system should not be a restriction for this and therefore it is necessary that the management platform that you hire can grow with you, with your company. This growth can occur in two ways, making the processes that you already carry out or that you have on the platform more complex, or incorporating new aspects of your management. For example, it may be that today you irrigate only with water from wells and tomorrow you want to incorporate water from channels and it is desirable that the platform can receive this new data and that the telemetry hardware can collect this new information. Look for a service to accompany you.
6 – Backup:
Prefer companies that design their products and know them as much as you know your business. Make sure that the telemetry company you hire maintains an adequate stock of its products to give a timely response in case of any failure or problem.
Undoubtedly, an agricultural management telemetry system with these characteristics will be your support to make efficient use of such important resources as water, fertilizers, labor, machinery and energy.

About the author: Martín Guimaraens
Hydraulic Civil Engineer, Master in applied fluid mechanics. He has more than 20 years of experience in water resources management. Partner of Nettra Chile and Country Manager in that country. Based in Chile for 11 years, Martín specializes in carrying out Telemetry and Remote Control projects applied to water resources management, helping small, medium and large producers and companies to make their operations more efficient.
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