Why Internet of Things Adoption in Agriculture Has Taken Off During the Pandemic
New research by Inmarsat, a world leader in global mobile satellite communications, reveals a rapid increase in the maturity level of the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) across the agricultural sector since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents to a recent survey, including crop producers and service providers, say that COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of IoT to their businesses, with many accelerating IoT deployments in response to the pandemic.
According to the research, adoption has seen huge progress from 2020 to 2021. About 80% of respondents have now fully deployed at least one IoT project, with 53% having achieved this in the 12-month period from the second quarter of 2020. Of the remaining 20% of agricultural respondents that have not yet adopted IoT in any form, all of them are either currently trialing it, or plan to deploy or trial at least one IoT project in the next two years.
A further 86% of agricultural respondents indicated they have or they intend to accelerate the adoption of IoT in response to challenges related to COVID-19. This figure includes 46% who have already accelerated IoT adoption to respond to COVID-19, versus 29% who will accelerate over the next 12 months and 11% who will accelerate beyond the next 12 months. The 46% that have already accelerated IoT adoption are less likely to state that COVID-19 has negatively impacted their ability to operate, demonstrating a link between IoT and business continuity during the pandemic. Additionally, over half 60% of respondents in the sector indicated that business and operational challenges related to COVID-19 have underlined the importance of IoT.
“While the agriculture sector has coped well through the COVID-19 pandemic, as with most industries it has faced challenges, particularly in terms of labor availability and supply chain impacts,” says Steven Tompkins, Director of Market Development at Inmarsat. “As a result, agricultural businesses have either sped up deployment of IoT projects, or plan to do so in the next couple of years, with greater automation and cost savings being seen as the largest drivers. We have seen agricultural producers take on more and more solutions that allow them to operate remotely, from autonomous irrigation control to the latest precision farming technologies, demonstrating increased faith in the technology.”
Commenting on the research, Mike Carter, President of Inmarsat Enterprise says the rapid increase in Internet of Things deployments over the last few years highlights the considerable progress global industry has made to overcome some of the world’s most challenging forces.
“It is particularly interesting, though logical, that COVID-19 has further catalyzed businesses to increase their reliance on Industry 4.0 technologies, and particularly the industrial Internet of Things, in order to maintain business continuity,” Carter says. “Those businesses implementing IoT technologies ahead of their competition and across their value chains are those who stand to win in the long term.”
The complete Inmarsat Research Program report is available here.
Subscribe to eNewsletter
