INTRODUCTION

Growing population has greater rate of food

consumption and with it the demand for food increased
both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Our creativity and ingenuity has found various ways to
curb the growing problem, some of which are :
1. Small space farming ,
2. technology fused agriculture and
3. Sustainable agriculture

If you have limited outdoor space, be it a small yard,

shared courtyard or balcony, a container garden may
be the thing for you.
CONTAINER GARDENING
One of the great things about container gardening is
the ability to grow almost any vegetable and many
varieties of fruit, given the right conditions and space
enough for an appropriately-sized container.

With the right amount of sun exposure it's even feasible

to successfully grow small fruit trees or bushes this
way. In my day I have seen both lemon trees and
blueberry bushes thrive in above-ground planters.

Container gardens are also extremely space efficient

as every ounce of soil in your container will count as no
growing space will be wasted underfoot as you care for
and harvest your plants.
Another great thing about container gardening is your
ability as the gardener to chase the sun if necessary,
as containers can be moved throughout the day. If you
have no time to be moving containers whilst life carries
on around you, no problem, plant for the amount of sun
you have.
While it's true that many plants will demand a minimum
of 6 hours of direct sun per day there are several
'shade vegetables' that will tolerate or thrive in partial
shade and dappled sunlight.
A few things to consider when container
gardening:

 Upcycling can lead to some very interesting

containers - steel pasta strainers are great for
kitchen herbs, reclaimed vintage boxes will add
flair to your vegetative stylings and even upcycled
plastic totes can make great planters if you're more
concerned with utility than style. You are limited
only by your imagination and preferences. You'll
want to remember to allow for drainage, so if
necessary drill holes or otherwise puncture the
bottom of your chosen containers.
 Almost any plant will grow in a container if the
container is big enough.
 Straw bales themselves can be used as containers
for gardening. See how this is done here.
 Be sure to provide enough water and food when
gardening in containers, as soil in containers will
dry out faster and nutrients tend to flush through
them with greater speed than their in-ground
counterparts.
 Assess your sun exposure and plant accordingly.
2.) Vertical Gardening:
Ah, vertical gardening. There are so many ways to
grow upwards - from a traditional trellis to a recycled
pallet planter to a hanging hydroponic window garden.
The options for vertical gardening are vast and require
only some creativity.
Which edibles lend themselves to vertical gardening
you may be wondering; well I'm happy to report that the
list is long. Here are just a few to get you started:

 Tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes in particular (but most

varieties will do) are very happy to grow in an
upward fashion when given the right amount of
support. Old nylons cut into strips are fabulous for
tying your plants to their upward structures as they
are flexible and will result in the least amount of
stress on the plant where they are attached. Maybe
you don't wear nylons or your nylons are far too
valuable to use in your urban garden, no worries,
 pick some up at the thrift store, they'll cost next to
nothing.
 Peas and pole beans
 Cucumbers
 Potatoes. Yup, even potatoes will grow vertically if
provided with the right container to do so. Imagine
you're using a clean garbage can with all kinds of
holes drilled in the bottom. Throw down a few
inches of soil and compost, add your cut and cured
pieces of seed potatoes and cover them with 6
more inches of dirt. Water. When the aerial parts of
the plant have reached about 6 - 8 inches, add
more soil leaving only a few inches of green
exposed. This cycle can be repeated several times
throughout the season. When the plants turns
brown and dies, it's time to harvest. The potatoes
on the very top will be smaller and more delicate
than those on the bottom, much like the gourmet
"new" potatoes available at the store for an
elevated price. I have heard tell of vertical potatoes
growing in a straw-filled container (rather than soil)
allowing for easier harvest and I plan to try it this
year.
 Try hanging planters: Strawberries will thrive in
hanging baskets, even tomatoes will happily grow
upside down out of the bottom of a hanging bucket
Raised beds and square foot gardening:
If your gardening space is big enough for raised beds,
they can be a great way to maximize space and effort.
Not only can raised beds accommodate more plants
per square foot, but gardening in a raised bed greatly
reduces the need to weed. It also makes weeds much
easier to uproot throughout the season, which can be a
real blessing for your back. Here are just a few of the
advantages of growing food in a raised bed:

 An extended growing season. A raised bed will

warm up faster than the ground in the spring and in
the fall your bed can easily be tented to extend
your growing season by a few weeks or so.
 Location, location, location: Grow food in the
location of your choice regardless of soil conditions
as you will be adding your own.
 Raised beds offer excellent drainage.
 Soil compaction in no longer an issue, so working
the soil and weeding will be much easier.
 Every square inch of soil will go towards food
production as none will be wasted underfoot.
 Depending on how high you choose to build your
raised beds, you could completely eliminate the
need to bend over. At worst, even if your raised
 beds are only a foot and a half high, you won't be

bending as far.

Keyhole gardens
Keyhole gardens are designed to maximize space by
eliminating the need for walkways as found in traditional
row gardening or with raised beds. The design is also
intended to be draught-resistant and deliver nutrients via
compost throughout the entire growing season.

Keyhole gardens are a raised style bed that take the

rough shape of a circle with a "keyhole" shaped path
allowing access to the entire garden. In the centre of the
circle is a vertical tunnel that houses many layers of
compost. As the compost breaks down it delivers
nutrients and moisture directly to the bed. Certainly an
efficient way to grow, keyhole gardens can be
constructed with many different materials .
Smart Farming
It represents the application of modern Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) into agriculture,
leading to what can be called a Third Green Revolution.
Following the plant breeding and genetics revolutions,
this Third Green Revolution is taking over the agricultural
world based upon the combined application of ICT
solutions such as precision equipment, the Internet of
Things (IoT), sensors and actuators, geo-positioning
systems, Big Data, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs,
drones), robotics, etc.
Smart Farming has a real potential to deliver a more
productive and sustainable agricultural production,
based on a more precise and resource-efficient
approach. However, while in the USA possibly up to 80%
of farmers use some kind of SFT, in Europe it is no more
than 24%.

From the farmer’s point of view, Smart Farming should

provide the farmer with added value in the form of better
decision making or more efficient exploitation operations
and management. In this sense, smart farming is
strongly related, to three interconnected technology
field.
1. Management Information Systems: Planned
systems for collecting, processing, storing, and
disseminating data in the form needed to carry out
a farm’s operations and functions.
2. Precision Agriculture: Management of spatial and
temporal variability to improve economic returns
following the use of inputs and reduce
environmental impact. It includes Decision Support
Systems (DSS) for whole farm management with
the goal of optimizing returns on inputs while
preserving resources, enabled by the widespread
use of GPS, GNSS, aerial images by drones and
the latest generation of hyperspectral images
provided by Sentinel satellites, allowing the
creation of maps of the spatial variability of as
many variables as can be measured (e.g. crop
yield, terrain features/topography, organic matter
content, moisture levels, nitrogen levels, etc).
3. Agricultural automation and robotics: The process
of applying robotics, automatic control and artificial
intelligence techniques at all levels of agricultural
production, including farmbots and farm drones.
Smart Farming applications do not target only large,
conventional farming exploitations, but could also be
new levers to boost other common or growing trends in
agricultural exploitations, such as family farming (small
or complex spaces, specific cultures and/or cattle,
preservation of high quality or particular varieties,
organic farming, and enhance a very respected and
transparent farming according to European consumer,
society and market consciousness.
Autonomous and Robotic Labour
Replacing human labor with automation is a growing
trend across multiple industries, and agriculture is no
exception. Most aspects of farming are exceptionally
labor-intensive, with much of that labor comprised of
repetitive and standardized tasks—an ideal niche for
robotics and automation.
We’re already seeing agricultural robots—or AgBots—
beginning to appear on farms and performing tasks
ranging from planting and watering, to harvesting and
sorting. Eventually, this new wave of smart equipment
will make it possible to produce more and higher quality
food with less manpower.
Driverless Tractors
The tractor is the heart of a farm, used for many
different tasks depending on the type of farm and the
configuration of its ancillary
equipment. As autonomous driving technologies
advance , tractors are expected to become some of the
earliest machines to be converted.
In the early stages, human effort will still be required to
set up field and boundary maps, program the best field
paths using path planning software, and decide other
operating conditions. Humans will also still be required
for regular repair and maintenance.
Nevertheless, autonomous tractors will become more
capable and self-sufficient over time, especially with the
inclusion of additional cameras and machine vision
systems, GPS for navigation, IoT connectivity to enable
remote monitoring and operation and radar and LiDAR
for object detection and avoidance. All of these
technological advancements will significantly diminish
the need for humans to actively control these
machines.
According to CNH Industrial , a company that
specializes in farm equipment and previewed a concept
autonomous tractor in 2016, “In the future, these
concept tractors will be able to use ‘big data’ such as
real-time weather satellite information to automatically
make the best use of ideal conditions, independent of
human input, and regardless of the time of day.”
Seeding and Planting

Sowing seeds was once a laborious manual process.

Modern agriculture improved on that with seeding
machines, which can cover more ground much faster
than a human. However, these often use a scatter
method that can be inaccurate and wasteful when
seeds fall outside of the optimal location. Effective
seeding requires control over two variables: planting
seeds at the correct depth, and spacing plants at the
appropriate distance apart to allow for optimal growth.
Precision seeding equipment is designed to maximize
these variables every time. Combining geomapping
and sensor data detailing soil quality, density, moisture
and nutrient levels takes a lot of the guesswork out of
the seeding process. Seeds have the best chance to
sprout and grow and the overall crop will have a greater
harvest.
As farming moves into the future, existing precision
seeders will come together with autonomous tractors
and IoT-enabled systems that feed information back to
the farmer. An entire field could be planted this way,
with only a single human monitoring the process over a
video feed or digital control dashboard on a computer
or tablet, while multiple machines roll across the field.
Automatic Watering and Irrigation
Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) is already a prevalent
irrigation method that allows farmers to control when
and how much water their crops receive. By pairing
these SDI systems with increasingly sophisticated IoT-
enabled sensors to continuously monitor moisture
levels and plant health, farmers will be able to intervene
only when necessary, otherwise allowing the system to
operate autonomously.

While SDI systems aren’t exactly robotic, they could

operate completely autonomously in a smart farm
context, relying on data from sensors deployed around
the fields to perform irrigation as needed.
Weeding and Crop Maintenance
Weeding and pest control are both critical aspects of
plant maintenance and tasks that are perfect for
autonomous robots. A few prototypes are already
being developed, including Bonirob from Deep-field
Robotics, and an automated cultivator that is part of
the UC Davis Smart Farm research initiative.
The Bonirob robot is about the size of a car and can
navigate autonomously through a field of crops using
video, LiDAR and satellite GPS. Its developers are
using machine learning to teach the Bonirob to identify
weeds before removing them. With advanced machine
learning, or even artificial intelligence (AI) being
integrated in the future, machines such as this could
entirely replace the need for humans to manually weed
or monitor crops.

The UC Davis prototype operates a bit

differently. Their cultivator is towed behind a tractor
and is equipped with imaging systems that can identify
a fluorescent dye that the seeds are coated with when
planted, and which transfers to the young plants as
they sprout and start to grow. The cultivator then cuts
out the non-glowing weeds.
While these examples are robots designed for weeding,
the same base machine can be equipped with sensors,
cameras and sprayers to identify pests and application
of insecticides.
These robots, and others like them, will not be
operating in isolation on farms of the future. They will
be connected to autonomous tractors and the IoT,
enabling the whole operation to practically run itself.
Harvesting from Field, Tree and Vine
Harvesting depends on knowing when the crops are
ready, working around the weather and completing the
harvest in the limited window of time available. There
are a wide variety of machines currently in use for crop
harvesting, many of which would be suitable for
automation in the future.
Traditional combine, forage, and specialty harvesters
could immediately benefit from autonomous tractor
technology to traverse the fields. Add in more
sophisticated tech with sensors and IoT connectivity,
and the machines could automatically begin the harvest
as soon as conditions are ideal, freeing the farmer for
other tasks.
Developing technology capable of delicate harvest
work, like picking fruit from trees or vegetables such as
tomatoes, is where high-tech farms will really shine.
Engineers are working to create the right robotic
components for these sophisticated tasks, such as
Panasonic’s tomato picking robot which incorporates
sophisticated cameras and algorithms to identify a
tomato’s color, shape and location to determine its
ripeness.
This robot picks tomatoes by the stem to avoid
bruising, but other engineers are trying to design
robotic end effectors that will be capable of gently
griping fruit and vegetables tight enough to harvest, but
not so hard that they cause damage.
Another prototype for fruit picking is the vacuum-
powered apple picking robot , which uses computer
vision to locate apples on the tree and determine if they
are ready to harvest.

There are more humans alive on Earth right now

than ever before—7.3 billion—and that number is
still growing, it will reach 9.7 billion by 2050. A
population of this magnitude brings a lot of
challenges, food production chief among them. The
UN Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that
we need to boost worldwide food production by 70
percent over the next several decades in order to
feed the anticipated population of 2050.
Ramping up production to that degree isn’t easy, but
the engineers and farmers of today are working
together to create a technological solution: precision
agriculture and the “smart farm.”
Agriculture is the oldest human industry, but it’s
certainly no stranger to technological change. The
industrial revolutions of the 19 th and 20 th centuries
replaced handheld tools and horse-drawn plows with
gasoline engines and chemical fertilizers.
Now, we’re on the verge of witnessing another
fundamental shift in agriculture thanks to a new
industrial revolution and the technologies of Industry
4.0 .

Nevertheless, autonomous tractors will become

more capable and self-sufficient over time,
especially with the inclusion of additional cameras
and machine vision systems, GPS for navigation,
IoT connectivity to enable remote monitoring and
operation and radar and LiDAR for object detection
and avoidance. All of these technological
advancements will significantly diminish the need for
humans to actively control these machines.
According to CNH INDUSTRY , a company that
specializes in farm equipment and previewed a
concept autonomous tractor in 2016, “In the future,
these concept tractors will be able to use ‘big data’
such as real-time weather satellite information to
automatically make the best use of ideal conditions,
independent of human input, and regardless of the
time of day.”

Drones for Imaging, Planting and More

What farmer wouldn’t want a bird’s eye view of their
fields? Where once this required hiring a helicopter
or small aircraft pilot to fly over a property taking
aerial photographs, drones equipped with cameras
can now produce the same images at a fraction of
the cost.
In addition, advances in imaging technologies mean
that you’re no longer limited to visible light and still
photography. Camera systems are available
spanning everything from standard photographic
imaging, to infrared, ultraviolet and even
hyperspectral imaging. Many of these cameras can
also record video. Image resolution across all these
imaging methods has increased, as well, and the
value of “high” in “high resolution” continues to rise.
All these different imaging types enable farmers to
collect more detailed data than ever before,
enhancing their capabilities for monitoring crop
health, assessing soil quality and planning planting
locations to optimize resources and land use. Being
able to regularly perform these field surveys
improves planning for seed planting patterns,
irrigation and location mapping in both 2D and
3D. With all this data, farmers can optimize every
aspect of their land and crop management.
But it isn’t just cameras and imaging capabilities
making a drone-assisted impact in the agricultural
sphere—drones are also seeing use in planting and
spraying.
Planting from the Air
Prototype drones are being built and tested for use
in seeding and planting to replace the need for
manual labor. For example, several companies and
researchers are working on drones that can use
compressed air to fire capsules containing seed
pods with fertilizer and nutrients directly into the
ground.
DroneSeed and BioCarbon are two such companies,
both of which are developing drones that can carry a
module that fires tree seeds into the ground at
optimal locations. While currently designed for
reforestation projects, it’s not hard to imagine that
the modules could be reconfigured to suit various
agricultural seeds. With IoT and software for
autonomous operation, a fleet of drones could
complete extremely precise planting into the ideal
conditions for growth of each crop, increasing the
changes for faster growth and a higher crop yield.

Example of a drone for tree planting. (Image courtesy of

BioCarbon.)
Crop Spraying

There are also drones currently available and in

development for crop spraying applications, offering the
chance to automate yet another labor-intensive
task. Using a combination of GPS, laser measurement
and ultrasonic positioning, crop-spraying drones can
adapt to altitude and location easily, adjusting for
variables such as wind speed, topography and
geography. This enables the drones to perform crop
spraying tasks more efficiently, and with greater
accuracy and less waste.
For example, DJI offers a drone called AGRAS – M1
designed specifically for agricultural crop spraying, with
a tank capacity of 2.6 gallons (10 litres) of liquid
pesticide, herbicide or fertilizer, and a flight range of
seven to ten acres per hour. Microwave radar enables
this drone to maintain correct distance from the crops
and ensure even coverage. According to DJI, it can
operate automatically, semi-automatic or manual.
Working in conjunction with other agbots, crops
identified as being in need of special attention could
receive a personalized visit from the nearest drone at
the first sign of trouble. Being able to provide
individualized attention to any part of the field as soon
as it’s needed could help to stop many problems before
they spread.
Real-Time Monitoring and Analysis
One of the most useful tasks drones can take on is
remote monitoring and analysis of fields and
crops. Imagine the benefits of using a small fleet of
drones instead of a team of workers spending hours on
their feet or in a vehicle travelling back and forth across
the field to visually check crop conditions.
This is where the connected farm is essential, as all
this data needs to be seen to be useful. Farmers can
review the data, and only make personal trips out into
the fields when there is a specific issue that needs their
attention, rather than wasting time and effort by tending
to healthy plants.
Given that drones for agricultural use are still early in
their evolution, there are a few downsides. Ranges and
flight times are not as robust as many farms would
need—currently, even the longest running drones max
out at around an hour of flight time before needing to
return and recharge.

The Connected Farm: Sensors and the IoT

Innovative, autonomous agbots and drones are useful,
but what will really make the future farm a “smart farm”
will be what brings all this tech together: the Internet of
Things.
The IoT has become a bit of a catch-all term for the
idea of having computers, machines, equipment and
devices of all types connected to each other, exchange
data, and communicating in ways that enable them to
operate as a so-called “smart” system. We’re already
seeing IoT technologies in use in many ways, such as
smart home devices and digital assistants, smart
factories and smart medical devices.
Smart farms will have sensors embedded throughout
every stage of the farming process, and on every piece
of equipment. Sensors set up across the fields will
collect data on light levels, soil conditions, irrigation, air
quality and weather. That data will go back to the
farmer, or directly to AgBots in the field. Teams of
robots will traverse the fields and work autonomously to
respond to the needs of crops, and perform weeding,
watering, pruning and harvesting functions guided by
their own collection of sensors, navigation and crop
data. Drones will tour the sky, getting the bird’s eye
view of plant health and soil conditions, or generating
maps that will guide the robots, and help the human
farmers to plan for the farm’s next steps. All of this will
help create higher crop production, and an increased
availability and quality of food.
BI Intelligence shared their predictions that IoT devices
installed in agriculture will increase from 30 million in
2015 up to 75 million by 2020. Under this trend,
connected farms are expected to generate as many as
4.1 million data points each day in 2050—up from a
mere 190,000 in 2014.
This mountain of data and other information generated
by farming technology, and the connectivity enabling it
to be shared, will be the backbone of the future smart
farm. Farmers will be able to “see” all aspects of their
operation—which plants are healthy or need attention,
where a field needs water, what the harvesters are
doing—and make informed decisions.
And this discussion has only touched on the tip of the
proverbial iceberg with the focus on vegetative crops;
there is an equal groundswell of smart technology
adoption for animal husbandry, and many more drones
and robots for every aspect of farming. If every farm in
the country becomes a smart farm, reaching that 70
percent increase in food production is a certainty

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE .
Sustainable agriculture helps the environment, but
there are concerns about its efficiency.

Sustainable agriculture takes many forms, but at its core

is a rejection of the industrial approach to food
production developed during the 20th century.

This system, with its reliance on monoculture,

mechanization, chemical pesticides and fertilizers,
biotechnology, and government subsidies, has made
food abundant and affordable. However, the ecological
and social price have been steep: erosion, depleted and
contaminated soil and water resources, loss of
biodiversity, deforestation, labor abuses, and the decline
of the family farm.

The concept of sustainable agriculture embraces a wide

range of techniques, including organic, free-range, low-
input, holistic, and biodynamic.
Ecologically Beneficial

The common thread among these methods is an

embrace of farming practices that mimic natural
ecological processes. Farmers minimize tilling and water
use, encourage healthy soil by planting fields with
different crops year after year and integrating croplands
with livestock grazing, and avoid pesticide use by
nurturing the presence of organisms that control crop-
destroying pests.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

 https://www.ecohome.net/guides/2228/grow-
food-at-home-7-tips-for-growing-food-in-small-
spaces/

 http://www.pbs.org/food/features/lexicon-of-
sustainability-episodes/

 https://youtu.be/bQPxkeQwn4g

 https://youtu.be/bQPxkeQwn4g

 Extension of technology from labs to farm,

Nalluswamy Ananda Raja , K . Chandrakandan