New Sensor Technology Enables Farmers To Detect Coffee Plant's Needs To Better Adapt To Climate Change – CoffeeTalk

Coffee, a crop that covers 10 million hectares of land and involves over 125 million farmers, is produced in about 70 countries worldwide, but for 12 nations, including four in Africa, it represents their primary agricultural export. The coffee industry now faces serious challenges, such as unpredictable weather patterns and temperature shifts, which threaten not just coffee yields and quality but also the livelihoods of millions of farmers who depend on coffee cultivation.

Climate change is a reality, and another issue is the distance between the origin and consumption. Coffee has a geographical issue, and if we can make a wedding between the biology and consumption, we think we can improve the overall value chain of coffee. To help families have a better standard of living, technology has become an intrinsic part of the coffee life cycle, from farm to Frappuccino.

To understand exactly how the environment is changing, big data is needed. One way to do this in an agricultural environment is to use Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. Cisco has partnered with the ConSenso Project, a coalition of Tanzanian espresso farmers and Italian plant and technology (PNAT) researchers, to fit 65 solar-powered IoT sensors on the Tunasikia Farm in Utengule, Tanzania. Angelo Fienga, Cisco’s Director of Sustainable Solutions for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), explains that collecting data in a city, where everything is connected, is easy. But on a farm, the challenge is not only gathering data; the type of data you need is completely different. In addition, the information is often spread across a large, open environment. You need a solution that doesn’t involve planting dozens of disruptive antennae in addition to your crops. And once this data is captured, it has to be both managed and secured.

LoRaWAN, Cisco’s long-distance, low-power consumption radio-transmission technology, is one of the key solutions helping to connect Tunasikia sensors. Camilla Pandolfi, CEO and R&D Manager at PNAT, a think tank of biologists, designers, and social and environmental scientists in Italy, explains how these sensors can capture data on soil, sun, climate, carbon capture, insects, and plants’ electrical energy fields. They know they will be able to monitor not only water needs but also pathogen attacks and nutrient needs so they can really improve the sustainability of consumption by helping farmers perform treatments at the right time.

Building technology that can survive in Tanzania’s coffee fields was no small challenge. The sensors needed to be waterproof, self-powered, and small enough to attach to plant stems without causing damage. PNAT’s solution was to create compact devices with solar panels that can operate for up to a week without sunlight. Early results are promising, and the PNAT team believes this approach will eventually allow them to detect not just water needs but also disease outbreaks and nutrient deficiencies through electrical signals alone. For coffee, which requires more than 2,000mm of rainfall annually, understanding precisely when plants need water could help farmers maintain yields even as climate conditions become more challenging.

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