Abstract

Keywords

1. Introduction

2. Literature review

3. Methods and data sources

4. Data analysis and discussions

5. Conclusion and recommendations

Declaration of Competing Interest

References

Abstract

In recent years, the agricultural industry has been experiencing an ever-increasing application of information and communication technologies globally. This new revolution has been touted to impact efficiency and productivity in the agricultural extension services within the agriculture sector. Notwithstanding this, empirical research need to be carried out amongst its users in the sector to ascertain these assertions. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to assess the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) among agricultural extension workers and its implications on extension service delivery. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 153 field extension workers, and a structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. The data obtained were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics software version 22. The study revealed that agricultural extension officers use ICT for personal communication, but not mainly for extension activities. It was recommended that the agricultural extension services provide intensive ICT training for the agricultural extension workers to enhance ICT incorporation into extension advisory service.

1. Introduction

The application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) across different sectors of the global economy has become a game changer in boosting work efficiency and productivity. The agriculture sector in the global economy is one of the industries experiencing tremendous ICT application in all spheres of its operations. Daum (2020) observed that in recent years, ICTs had become one of the main driving tools used by farmers to manage the essential factors of production (land, labour, capital, and soil) in agriculture. ICT applications have the potential to identify and find solutions to some of the numerous problems faced in the field of agriculture, which includes prolonged droughts, pest and disease outbreaks, seasonality and spatial dispersion of farming; high transaction costs and information asymmetry (Anh et al., 2019). ICT application along the agricultural value chain (from farm to fork) could offer the opportunities for actors within the chain to obtain accurate, timely, and relevant information; which will not only contribute to profitability but also enhance food security, sustainable and remunerative agriculture (Purnomo & Lee, 2010). ICT also has the potential to resolve the challenges faced by governments, farmers, and other land users in valuation, registration, and taxation of land. For instance, in India, the digitalization of land administrative activities saved farmers close to 1.32 million working days of man-hours and about 806 million Rupees in bribe due to the improved system, which reduced corruption levels (Daum, 2020). The application of ICT in agricultural activities across the globe is not only gaining popularity but also transforming the sector’s businesses.

The agriculture sector has experienced a new technological revolution for the past ten years. Compared to a decade earlier, this new technological revolution, has the potentials to respond to farmers’ needs accurately and swiftly. Wolfert et al. (2017) observed that technological advancement in the area of digital platforms, such as e-commerce, agro-advisory apps, big data, computational power, and satellite systems like remote sensing, among others, quicken communication and information sharing among farmers in recent years. Mobile phones that have internet connectivity (smartphones) are the most widely used ICT devices across the globe (O’Dea, 2020). Research published by Statista (2020), showed that the number of smartphone users around the world were 3.2 billion in 2019, and forecasted that this figure could reach 3.8 billion by 2021.

Abstract

Keywords

1. Introduction

2. IoT in smart farming

3. Challenges in the current generation of mobile networks

4. Rise of 5G

5. Application of 5G in agriculture

6. Future outlook

7. Conclusion

Declaration of Competing Interest

Acknowledgments

References

Abstract

Over the next decade, the superfast 5G network will play a critical role in farming industries to improve the yields and quality of crops while using minimal labor. Smart and precision farming allows farmers to be more informed and productive. The advent of 5G will considerably change the nature of jobs in farming and agriculture. The internet of things (IoT)-based cloud computing service in the 5G network provides flexible and efficient solutions for smart farming. This will allow the automated operation of various unmanned agricultural machines for the plowing, planting, and management phases of crop farming and will ultimately achieve secure, reliable, environmentally friendly, and energy-efficient operations and enable unmanned farms. This paper provides a complete survey on 5G technology in the agricultural sector and discusses the need for and role of smart and precision farming; benefits of 5G; applications of 5G in precision farming such as real-time monitoring, virtual consultation and predictive maintenance, data analytics and cloud repositories; and future prospects.

1. Introduction

Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood and plays a vital role in most countries’ economies. Agriculture is not only associated with crop production but also includes animal breeding and land cultivation to offer food, fiber, and medicine. Different types of agriculture are practiced in different regions across the world, focusing primarily on providing healthy food to feed the population worldwide. Agriculture is the main source of income for developing countries. It ensures food security for a country and produces material for industry. Modern farming started approximately in the 18th century, referred to as the British Agricultural Revolution, when in a short period, many improvements were made to farming, leading to a major yield increase and more efficient methods. A four-field system and selective cross-breeding program were implemented to increase crop size as well as yields, replacing the three-field crop rotation system. The first subsequent revolution in agriculture took place between 1900 and the 1930s, when mechanized agriculture allowed each farmer to produce enough for 26 people. This agricultural revolution brought techniques such as soil management and the advent of various new farming tools. After many decades, a second revolution, known as the Green Revolution, took place in the 1990s. Genetically modified crops that are pest resistant and need less water were introduced with the help of scientific advancements, allowing each farmer to feed 155 people. The second revolution promoted the use of mechanized tools in farming practices, increasing the rate of production as well as the quantity of crop yield. The third revolution, also described as a green revolution, was the phase when genetically modified crops began to be used by almost everyone, leading to greater produce output.

1. Introduction

2. Literature survey

3. Artificial neural networks in agriculture

4. Automation and wireless system networks in agriculture

5. Implementation of fuzzy logic systems in agriculture

6. Proposed idea

7. Future scope

8. Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

Abstract

Agriculture automation is the main concern and emerging subject for every country. The world population is increasing at a very fast rate and with increase in population the need for food increases briskly. Traditional methods used by farmers aren’t sufficient enough to serve the increasing demand and so they have to hamper the soil by using harmful pesticides in an intensified manner. This affects the agricultural practice a lot and in the end the land remains barren with no fertility. This paper talks about different automation practices like IOT, Wireless Communications, Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence, Deep learning. There are some areas which are causing the problems to agriculture field like crop diseases, lack of storage management, pesticide control, weed management, lack of irrigation and water management and all this problems can be solved by above mentioned different techniques. Today, there is an urgent need to decipher the issues like use of harmful pesticides, controlled irrigation, control on pollution and effects of environment in agricultural practice. Automation of farming practices has proved to increase the gain from the soil and also has strengthened the soil fertility. This paper surveys the work of many researchers to get a brief overview about the current implementation of automation in agriculture. The paper also discusses a proposed system which can be implemented in botanical farm for flower and leaf identification and watering using IOT.

Introduction

With the advent of technology in this digital world, we humans have pushed our limit of the thinking process and are trying to coalesce normal brain with an artificial one. This continuing exploration gave birth to a whole new field Artificial intelligence. It is the process by which a human can make an intelligent machine. AI comes under the domain area of computer science which can be able to discern its milieu and should thrive to maximize the rate of success. AI should be able to do work based on past learning. Deep learning, CNN, ANN, Machine learning are certain domains which enhances the machine work and helps to develop a more advance technology

The term IOT is elucidated as “thing to thing” communication. The three main targets are communication, automation and cost saving in the system. Dr. D.K. Sreekantha, Kavya.A.M provides the in-depth application of IOT in the field of agriculture and how it can be helpful to the humans.

Public sector organisations have increasingly been encouraged to take greater environmental responsibility (Frost & Seamer, 2002). Recent attention has been given to the use of environmental accounting, particularly environmental management accounting (EMA) to support environmental decision-making by local government (Ball, 2005; Qian, Burritt, & Monroe, 2011). As local government is in a better position than central and state governments to make progress on sustainable development at the community level, it has potential to be at the vanguard of the development of EMA (Ball & Craig, 2010). One of the essential environmental services provided by local government is waste and recycling management financed through council rates and levies (Ball, 2005; Lewis, 2000). This study investigates the uptake of different levels of EMA for local government waste and recycling services and functional and institutional factors associated with such uptake. With increasing threats of waste disposal to long-term sustainability and the declining financial health of local government, various calls have been made to broaden collection of waste information. These include promotion of lifecycle assessment and integration of economic and environmental costs into waste management in Europe (European Commission, 2009); full-cost accounting for waste and recycling services in the USA (USEPA, 1997); and introduction of charges reflecting full economic and environmental costs of waste disposal in Australia (AESDSC, 1992). Yet, collection and use of EMA information remains a challenge, particularly for less-visible costs such as waste and recycling flows, future clean-up costs and environmental impacts of disposal alternatives hidden in overheads (USEPA, 1995; Qian et al., 2011). Combining monetary, physical, hidden and external costs and impacts adds further layers of complexity. To understand EMA development in organisations, Parker (1997) and Qian and Burritt (2009) suggested the use of a contingency lens as an organisation’s structural arrangements and management procedures can be subject to the contexts in which it operates. These contexts can involve an immediate technical environment where functional demands persist, and a wider social environment where institutional pressures form. For example, Qian and Burritt (2009) and Christ and Burritt (2013) claimed that the level of engagement of an organisation with EMA tools depends on different functional contingencies such as service complexity, environmental uncertainty and strategic priority. Getting the right fit with these functional demands allows the organisation to improve efficiency and reach targeted performance (Chenhall, 2003). In contrast, Ball (2005) and Ball and Craig (2010) used institutional theory to explore social imperatives such as social environmental movements and cultural expectations. They conceptualized EMA changes within a wider institutional environment which they contended has shaped an organisation’s environmental behaviour and commitments.

Sugar cane molasses is most important raw materials for production of alcohols and amino acids in fermentation industries. However, after use of raw materials, a large quantity (8–15 L of wastewater for every liter of alcohol production) of wastewater is discharged which creates serious environmental issues [1]. The molasses based distillery industries wastewater contains high organic matter in terms of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD: 65,000–13,0000 mg/L), high concentration of minerals, dark brown color, and burnt sugar odor [2]. Several methods includes chemical, electrochemical, biological (aerobic and anaerobic) methods have been exploited for the treatment and disposal of molasses wastewater [3]. Conventionally, an anaerobic digestion method is used for treating such waste and generates methane gas followed by an aerobic treatment prior to disposal [4]. An intensive conventional wastewater treatment system are required to develop an alternative technology which should be reliable, cost effective and also energy recovery. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a novel bio-electrochemical system that generates bioelectricity and simultaneously removes pollutant such as COD, color, salinity etc. from wastewater which is one of the most advantageous [5–7]. The MFC consists of biotic anode and abiotic cathode chamber separated by a proton exchange membrane (PEM). The potential developed between metabolic respiration on electron donors and electron acceptors conditions in the anode and cathode generates electricity and water [8]. Earlier, the MFC was operated using pure organic matter such as glucose, acetate and lactose as a substrate to understand the fundamental of process [9,10]. Nowadays more complex substrates (dairy, domestic, starch processing, and paper recycling wastewater etc.) have been used to improve the performance and exploiting the waste into useful product [11–14]. Though, the molasses based distillery wastewater containing high organic matter that provides a great potential source for electricity generation. Additionally, the MFC used sulfide (that generated during the anaerobic process) as a fuel to generate electricity and oxidize sulfide into elemental sulfur [15]. In recent year, the MFC performance was enhanced by varying the operational and design parameters such as reactor configuration, electrode material, electrode distance, pH, microbial communities and substrate concentration etc. [16–19]. Nevertheless, the wastewater feed pH played a significant role on overall performance in dual chamber MFC, because it controls not only bacterial growth and also supports an efficient movement of protons through PEM. Generally, bacteria respond to change internal and external pH by adjusting their activity associated with many different processes, including proton translocation, amino acid degradation, adaptation to acidic or basic conditions [20]. Since, the wastewater pH in anode chamber should be identified to enhance power generation in the MFC. Mohanakrishna et al. [21] evaluated the MFC performance with distillery wastewater by keeping at acidic environment. Ha et al. [22] adjusted the distillery wastewater at pH 7 using buffer for evaluating the performance using bacteroidetes dominant thermophilic MFC.

The distillery industry generates a lot of wastewater from its processing and most distilleries end up disposing their untreated effluent into water bodies causing environmental threats to aquatic life due to high levels of biological contaminants (Shivajirao, 2012). Several low cost technologies have been investigated for potential use in distillery effluent treatment which includes biological, chemical and thermal treatment methods and these technologies have a shortfall one way or the other. There is need to look onto affordable and easy to use technologies such as the vermifiltration process, a low cost and easy to use technology. During vermifiltration, earthworms are used as the biological filtration media for removal of bio contaminants in wastewater that result in high total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), biological oxygen demand (BOD), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS) and the chemical oxygen demand (COD). Studies conducted on the application of the vermifiltration technology in wastewater treatment has reported a noted decline in the TKN, BOD, TDS, TSS and COD concentrations over given periods of time with reductions ranging between 70 and 90% (Anusha and Sundar, 2015). Popular earthworms that have been applied in the vermifiltration technology include Eisenia Fetida and Perionyx Excavates (Rajpal et al., 2011). Fig. 1 shows a summary of how the vermifiltration technology is implemented in wastewater treatment as well as the end products such as a clean effluent and vermicompost, a bio fertilizer that can be realized from the process. During the vermifiltration process, the earthworms also act as a biological filter enhancing the biological treatment of wastewater (Sinha et al., 2008). This study investigated the potential of applying the vermifiltration technology in the treatment of distillery wastewater in a bid to ease downstream contamination from the distillery industries.

Solid waste management has been an integral part of every human society (Shekdar, 2009) and is one of the most challenging issues in urban cities, which are facing serious pollutions problems due to the generation of huge amount of solid waste (Kumar et al., 2009). The influence of improper management practices for municipal solid waste (MSW) has attracted the attention of various entities, professionals and researchers in recent years (Catapreta and Heller, 1999; Agarwal et al., 2005; Mondelli et al., 2007; Taylan et al., 2008; Parrot et al., 2009), since these can cause serious threats to the public health and environment. MSW is the most complex solid waste stream, as opposed to more homogeneous waste streams resulting from industrial or agricultural activities (Troschinetz and Mihelcic, 2009). According to the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE, 2002), Brazil produces about 125,281 tons of MSW per day, 30.5% of which are disposed off in garbage dumps, 22.3% in controlled dumps and 47.1% in sanitary landfills. Although, the selectiveness of garbage disposal has improved in recent years, 63.6% of Brazilian towns still dispose off their solid waste in dumps. Effective planning of solid waste recycling programs is currently a substantial challenge in many solid waste management systems (Li et al., 2008). Despite some effort in order to develop sustainable solutions for municipal solid waste management systems (Shekdar, 2009), the management of MSW is going through a critical phase, due to unavailability of suitable facilities to treat and dispose of the larger amount of MSW generated daily in metropolitan cities (Sharholy et al., 2008; Taylan et al., 2008; Parrot et al., 2009; ChamizoGonzalez et al., 2016). Specifically in the case of Brazil, the existent technology for the recycling of MSW is simple and labour intensive (Nunes et al., 2007). While developed countries typically apply curbside recycling programs to collect and sort wastes for recycling processing (Troschinetz and Mihelcic, 2009), developing countries, such as Brazil, utilize the social sector known as scavengers to handle such activities, who are citizens with low-to noincome that collect materials either dispersed throughout the city or concentrated at dumpsites (Medina, 2004; Wilson et al., 2006; Fei et al., 2016). Furthermore, Nunes et al. (2007) report on their study that the majority of recycling centres in Brazil are badly administered by public authorities and their viability depend on continuity of operation and reaching expected production volumes. According to Krook and Eklund (2010b) there is a lack of affordable and accurate monitoring for providing the recycling centres with the necessary facts for improving waste. Javied et al. (2014) also mention that, among several critical success factors for improving efficiency at recycling centres, four main points are worth noticing: (i) proper funding for MSW management system, (ii) awareness and training of workers and people, (iii) increased pay of workers and related staff and (iv) proper production practices for daily activities’ demand. Thus, as the trend towards recycling grows, so does the need for increasing the effectiveness of recycling centres (Hemphala et al., 2010; Lino and Ismail, 2013).

The quality of life of individuals has improved due to continuous industrial development. Plastics are directly related to this development, due to their reliability, low cost, durability, and lower weight compared to competing materials, besides their great versatility and adaptability in terms of the technical specifications required (Siddique et al., 2008). The world’s total consumption of plastics is increasing at an average growth rate of 5-6% per year (Saisinchai, 2013), and global plastics production reached 322 million tons in 2015. There are several plastics used in everyday life. The demand is mainly dominated by thermoplastic types such as polypropylene (PP) (19.1%), low-density and linear lowdensity polyethylene (LDPE and LLDPE) (17.3%), high-density polyethylene, (HDPE) (12.1%), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) (10.1%), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (7.1%) (Plastic Europe, 2016). Plastics constitute a significant fraction of urban solid waste, including packagings and discarded goods (Astrup et al., 2009). The correct disposal of plastic waste has become a major issue worldwide, and recycling is an effective way to solve this problem. Plastic products contain chemical substances (additives) that have the potential to contaminate soil, air, water, and food (Hahladakis et al., 2018). Recycling of plastic wastes has numerous benefits, such as reducing the amount of solid wastes that go to incineration and landfill, in addition to reducing the production of virgin plastics from refined fossil fuels (Saisinchai, 2013; Siddique et al., 2008). A major challenge for producing recycled resins from plastic wastes is that most different plastic types are not compatible with each other, due to their inherent immiscibility at the molecular level and differences in processing requirements at a macro-scale. Rigid containers composed of a single polymer are simpler and more economical to recycle than multi-layer and multi-component packages (Hopewell et al., 2009). Mechanical recycling is the most widely used method, but can only be used with products containing only one type of resin (PP, HDPE, or PET, etc.). The more mixed and contaminated is the plastic waste, the harder it is to perform the mechanical recycling process. According to Luijsterburg and Goossens (2014), extensive sorting leads to purer waste fractions and better mechanical properties. Pyrolysis is another versatile recycling method that can produce a range of hydrocarbons potentially useful as chemical feedstocks or energy sources (Al-Salem, 2017).

Public support is a key to successful implementation of waste management policy and policy goal achievement (Wan et al., 2015, 2017). It is particularly significant for environmental policies which emphasize active public participation, such as recycling and recovery measures. Most previous research examined public support for waste management strategies by using single measurement (e.g., Afroz and Masud, 2011; Brown and Johnstone, 2014; Dietz et al., 1998; Elliott et al., 1995; Gelissen, 2007; Saphores et al., 2006). Though there have been a considerable number of studies examining relationship between sociodemographic factors and the level of policy support, little research explores the level of support for different waste management tools and the differences in level of policy support across demographic variables in a single study. Previous studies also confined to measurement deficiency (e.g., single measurement) that the results only provide us with limited understanding of the issue. Given the above background, this research aims at investigating the level of policy support and socio-demographic effect on the public support for various waste management options with reference to Hong Kong. Empirical evidence of the level of public support across policies and socio-demographic factors that account for the variations could inform formulation of effective waste management strategies. It assists policy-makers to work out measures that are responsive to the public, thereby promotes public participation and facilitates policy implementation. The densely populated research context with scarce land resources available also gives a unique insight into countries which share similar background. The study will first brief the study area and research background. Section 3 presents a review of the literature on policy support. Methodological details are given in section 4. Statistical results are reported in section 5. Section 6 is an extensive discussion of the results. Section 6.1 offers explanations for differential policy support across policies in relation to the phenomenon of uncoordinated waste management framework. Section 6.2 begins by comparing socio-demographic effect on the level of policy support with findings from previous studies; and put forward exposition of each finding by drawing reference to these studies. In section 6.3, a new framework toward a coherent waste management and policy relevance based on results are proposed. We also provide suggestions on recruiting public support targeted at people with different socio-demographic backgrounds in section 6.4. The paper will end with a note on the issue of framework applicability to other cities.

In the Wealth of Nations (Smith, 1776), Adam Smith emphasized the gains from specialization arising from two types of division of labor. The first type is division of labor within the firm, as famously illustrated in the example of pin making in a workshop, where ten workers, each doing a specialized task of the set of tasks to make a pin, could make hundreds of times more per day than the ten workers working independently, each doing all the tasks. The second type refers to division of labor across producers as shown in the linen shirt example in Smith’s book. The production of linen shirts was dispersed over many workshops. Smith posited that market size determines the division of labor. Due to a lack of scale, the division of labor in agricultural production is not as common as in industrial production. Marshall (1920, 167) echoed Smith’s viewpoints in his Principles of Economics: “In agriculture there is not much division of labour, and there is no production on a very large scale; for a so-called ‘large farm’ does not employ a tenth part of the labour which is collected in a factory of moderate dimensions.” The latter vision of farming—and its implications for the division of labor and mechanization—was manifest again in Asia from the 1950s to the present. Ruttan (2001) puts forward nearly the same ideas and terms as Smith and Marshall.

مقاله سال 2016

While it might seem exciting and gratifying to introduce new, ground-breaking agricultural technologies into developing societies in order to improve the quality of life and enhance food security, it may be erroneous to assume that the introduction of such technologies will not meet with some level of resistance by certain sectors of the society. The introduction of any technology can have either positive or negative effects on a society, depending on the rate at which it is introduced and adopted by the society and the expected skill level of the new technologies’ target users. The adoption of agricultural technology by a farming population would normally depend to a large extent on the society’s socio-cultural and economic ideologies as well as the application of these technologies to local production systems (IFAD-FAO, 2005). Few sub-Saharan countries have high agricultural mechanisation adoption rates, largely because of the abysmal failure of prior efforts to ensure the continued adoption of new farming technologies by the farming population once initial government support came to an end (Mrema et al., 2008; Pingali, 2007) and also due to societal resistance especially to biotechnological related innovations; all despite documented gains (Pinstrup-Andersen et al., 1999; Owombo et al., 2012; Parente and Prescott, 1994).

In Africa, agriculture (primarily subsistence) has been by far the single most important economic activity; employing about two-thirds of the workforce in sub-Saharan Africa. By this means, it contributes an average of 30 to 60% of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) and constituting about 30% of the value of exports (SRID, 2011). However, with a prediction of as much as 98% contribution to the increase of the world’s population by 2020 coming from Africa, most of the developing countries of Africa will become increasingly urbanized and face food security challenges. The successful implantation of mechanisation, therefore, has an impending positive implication for food availability and job creation on a global perspective. Using cassava as model crop, we highlight some of the possible causes of agricultural mechanisation stagnation in the African region.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is grown all over the world and in Africa is the most produced ahead of sugar cane and maize (Fig. 1a,b) (FAOSTAT, 2016). Common amongst the lowland tropics, subhumid tropics of West and Central Africa, it is a primary source of calorie for about two-fifths of Africans (Oni and Oyelade, 2014). Its cultivation produced the largest number of calories per hectare of any crop; it grows on poor soils, and it has a high resistance to drought, pests, and diseases (Nweke et al., 2002). With these characteristics, its cultivation steadily expanded in almost all of the last two decades particularly in western and central Africa; displacing yam (Dioscorea sp. L.) cultivation in many areas and improving its significance as more than just a famine reserve. Over 90% of cassava production takes place on small farms and accounts for about 26% of cash income from all food crops (IFAD-FAO, 2005).