The EIMA Trade Show 2018 is an international exhibition of machinery, innovative technologies and components for agriculture, gardening and irrigation. It is held every two years in Italy and regularly hosts manufacturers from around the world. The 5 trends to watch at EIMA Trade Show for 2018 revolve around the application of advanced technologies in the agricultural sector, a field also known as Agriculture 4.0. These technological advancements have applications in both traditional agriculture tasks like crop fertilizing, as well as in more innovative and advanced techniques such as crop health prediction. EIMA Trade Show 2018 also hosts a Technical Innovation Contest, featuring companies with all kinds of innovative agricultural products from all around the world. In that regard, here are the 5 main trends to watch at this year’s EIMA trade show.
Agricultural drones
Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) are becoming more and more common, with continuously increasing autonomy, range and service capabilities. Agricultural drones are UAV’s that have been customized to serve a variety of farming applications. Equipped with sensors and digital imaging capabilities, they provide a bird’s eye view of the crop in a number of different ways, allowing for crop optimization and better decision making. By incorporating multispectral imaging with near-infrared as well as a visual spectrum views, agricultural drones help farmers identify and prepare for many crop issues such as soil variation, irrigation problems, as well as pest and fungal infestations. Another agricultural drone application is the fitting of spraying systems for the automatic spraying and distribution of liquid or powder pesticides.
IOT sensors
The adaptation of Internet of Things (or IoT) technologies applied to the agricultural sector, can aid and simplify the collection of crop information through the use of sensors strategically placed throughout the crop field. In this way farmers gain real-time information regarding their crop and can determine crop health and distribute agricultural resources as well as adapt their farming techniques accordingly. Moreover, IoT sensors in the fields enable the monitoring of large scale crops offering higher production yields while using less resources while also producing less waste.
Autonomous agriculture equipment
Autonomous agriculture equipment includes self-steering farming machines, such as tractors or robots equipped to perform a specific task. The autonomous functionality is an application of ISOBUS or CAN-BUS technology, oftentimes in combination with other technologies such as image recognition or GPS positioning. Autonomous machines operate similarly to a plane’s autopilot, where the driver simply monitors the operation and only intervenes in case of emergencies, while the tractor does most of the work. Applications include fertilizer distribution throughout the field, or plowing of the land.
Precision agriculture
Precision agriculture was enabled through GPS technology, coupled with advanced drone imagery and sensors. The combination of those technologies can create a segmented map of the crop field, where the differences between the segments parameters are clearly distinguishable. Segmentation parameters can include a wide array of parameter combinations such as topology, organic matter content, moisture levels, nitrogen levels, soil pH and others. This data is afterwards used along with satellite imagery to distribute resources and adapt farming techniques, with the goal of optimizing crop yield while preserving resources.
Integrated irrigation systems
Integrated irrigation systems is irrigation monitoring hardware, coupled with specialized analysis software. This system deploys multiple sensors and uses smart software to analyze the data measured, and immediately changes the crop’s irrigation parameters. Such systems oftentimes operate in tandem with drip irrigation lines strategically positioned throughout the crop field.
Visit DRTS at EIMA Trade Show 2018
DRTS will be attending this year’s EIMA Trade Show Schedule a meeting and Visit us in Hall 21, Booth B17 to meet with irrigation manufacturing technology experts and discuss your specific needs firsthand with a DRTS expert.