1 INTRODUCTION Nowadays there is a vast enhancement


there is a vast enhancement in
technologies, in agricultural sector different techniques, tools and
technologies are applied to facilitate production. To improve efficiency in
overall workload, sufficient productivity, entire marketing and to reduce human
daily intervention, time and cost there is a need to change and adapt towards new technology referred to as the
Internet of Things (IoT). This document primarily focuses on IoT
technology in agriculture and climate change that will lead to smart farming.

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Objective of the study

To define IOT, give a brief
history of it and also explain how it

To investigate and analyze the challenges facing farmers through
the use of traditional farming technique and explain in detail how climate
change affects agricultural productivity.

To evaluate the relationship
that exists between IOT technology,
agriculture and climate change.

To investigate and explain the
role or benefits that IOT plays in agriculture and climate change for better
farming technique and productivity.

What is IOT and how it works?

is the interconnection of different daily life objects through the internet
(object embedded with network connectivity, software, sensors, actuators, and electronics,). In simple word any
electronic devices with on/off button or switch connected via the internet. IoT
is the next stage of the Internet in which physical objects and things
communicate. The concept of IOT become more popular in 1999 and was first introduced
by the MIT Auto-ID Center whereby object and things in the world were labeled and traced via the internet by attaching
this objects with RFID transponders thus making it easy to manage, track and
enhance inventory control using a computer. In the concept of IoT a unique identifier is used to connect this
physical objects so that it can transfer data over the network without a human

      The main aim of IoT is to connect people
and object through the internet, whereby IOT enhance awareness which is ability to understand and sense other objects,
representation which is ability to
represent data that has been sensed according to the programmed argument and
concept and interaction which is the ability to interact with other electronic devices
and exchange useful data. This has resulted to a world equipped with smart,
intelligent and connected things that are sensitive and respondent to change
and also they can be identified, controlled, monitored, sensed and remotely by
using different sensors and actuators.

the year 2013 use of IOT has evolved and lead to the development of a system using different multiple technologies ranging from internet
to a wireless communication and also electro-mechanical systems to micro
embedded systems. There is invisible technology operating behind the whole
scenario and it’s dynamically responding
to how we want “objects and things” to act. In the next decade, the IoT technology is expected to be the next popular Internet
revolution in any technology application sectors. Despite
using the internet to store, access and
retrieve information, the use of internet still primarily focuses on human
interaction and monitoring through the developed
application and their interfaces.  

     Agriculture is an
important sector in any country economy which include crop, livestock and seafood production and it contributes to
country’s gross domestic product. Agriculture is the
main backbone of any country Economic growth which provides the basic daily ingredient to the whole population and raw
materials for industrialization in processing companies. Agriculture highly dependent on favorable climate for a successive production.
The rapid increase in population growth and limited resources pressures
the farmers to grow and produce more so as to satisfy the population. Therefore food security is a major issue to take care of which
will become more urgent and critical in the future due to the expected increase
in population globally.

Challenges faced by farmers in
traditional farming techniques that can be solved using IOT technology

The main
barrier that arises and hinders level of productivity
in traditional farming is climatic change (Fluctuating environmental changes). Climate change includes temperatures,
rainfall, change in pest and diseases (due to global warming), change in
atmospheric carbon dioxide and ozone concentration and change in sea level. These climate changes have a direct effect on agriculture, changing the
conditions favorable for crop and plant
growth and in turn food production, supply and soil quality (change in the PH
level) and also water availability.

Insect and
diseases that attack crops.

irrigation and water wastage- a lot of water is
wasted during irrigation: farmer not aware when to irrigate the crop.

Poor machinery,
tools, and equipment for farming due to
improper and poor utilization of available technology.

Misuse of

Overview of the relationship
between IOT technology, agriculture and climate change

in climatic condition affects
agriculture. IoT works in synergy with available agricultural equipment despite
the current change in climate thus obtaining smart farming, this enhances high productivity in agricultural
sectors. This is achieved by integration of wireless sensors with agricultural
mobile application and the cloud platform which help in collecting vital
information from the environmental condition – rainfall, humidity, wind
direction and speed, temperature, soil moisture content in the soil, pest
infestation.  Therefore farmers can use
their smartphones to remotely control and monitor their farming equipment and
crops. IOT ensures that farmer gets real-time data or information related to given
agricultural processes thus enabling farmers to plan for their course of
activities and take preventive and corrective measures. When information is
collected critical decision are made to improve quality and quantity, minimize
risk and waste, hassles of managing farm at multiple locations, therefore, can be used to improve and automate farming

Role that IOT technology play in agriculture and climate

Water management-
Unfavourable climate changes leads to a shortage
of water. By the use of IOT there is the provision of solutions for improving water
management. How will the farmer manage the available water for farming? IOT
provide a platform through which a farmer can manage and install water storage
system in tank/reservoirs i.e. water level using water level sensors (detect
the level of present water when to add more water when it’s below a certain
level and also when to switch off pump when the water is filled), through IOT a
farmer can detect water leakage in pipes thus avoid water wastage, IOT sensors
for water quality safety to be used for irrigation. The information is passed
to a central server on a daily basis which communicates on the action to do.

Soil management- Climate
changes result in dryness, wetness change in PH level of the soil. IOT make it
possible to manage the moisture content in the soil and also the PH level of
the soil. By using the IOT system soil moisture sensors, data from the sensor
can be analyzed to determine the moisture
content in the soil. When the moisture is beyond a certain level the data is sent to the farmer through a notification
whereby the farmer can decide the further
action to take (such as triggering irrigation when moisture is below a certain level and turn irrigation motor pump
off when the moisture content is a certain
level). By implementing this efficient irrigation control is enhanced. This process
reduces water wastage and also human
intervention. Also through IOT system soil PH level and salinity sensors can be
incorporated into the system to detect
and determine the level of acidity and alkaline in the soil. Thus the farmer
can be able to optimize the type of fertilizer to apply and reduce fertilizer
wastage in the soil. This ensures maintenance of soil fertility.

Climate control in greenhouses-
maintaining a controlled temperature and humidity is a crucial factor that enhances plant growth and productivity.
Fluctuation in temperature and humidity can result to damage or kill the crops.
IOT play an important role in maintaining
this factors whereby sensors are used to collect data and dynamically update
this data to an online server and the farmer can conduct an analysis of immediate action to take. Also, regular actions are also implemented to
ensure optimum climatic condition that favours
plant growth (example opening ventilations and curtains when temperature and
humidity is beyond a certain level).

Control of insect and pest-
global warming has resulted to increase of pest and insects that affect crop
yield. Regular application of pesticides and insecticides have to be done to
ensure that crop is not affected. Pest has developed resistance over time and this requires heavy, costly use of pesticides which
in turn has an impact on human health.
IOT is used to connect sensors and electronic devices in the agricultural field
that can analyze, visualize and automate
data to inform farmer on quick countermeasure
action to take as early as possible thus reduce the damage caused by pests on
large scale. In case of insect attack on crop leaves, fruits and stems IOT
facilitates chemical spray automation process which in turn minimize the use of insecticides and maximize the results.

Reduce the overall human intervention and effort- by combining the above IOT capabilities it clear that full,
accurate solutions are provided which in turn reduce human interaction in the

Weather forecasting-with
the implementation of IOT in drones they are used in agriculture to predict
weather and alert farmers on any environmental changes. This provides information to the farmer on action to


It is a
description of a general research strategy
that outlines and specify the way in
which the research is to be undertaken and also identifying the methods to be

Research methods and design

A research design is a blueprint
of methods and procedures used in collecting and analyzing
variable when conducting a research study. A specific suitable question for study in a
research project should be considered and then choose a suitable method of
conducting the research. This is important for successful
coverage of the highlighted objectives and completion of the research.  Since fieldwork and analysis are limited to research based on Agriculture
parameters qualitative research method was used. It provides a complex textual description of how farmers experience an
agricultural problem.

Research data was collected through participant observation which
entails the use of senses to examine people in a targeted population and then
evaluate the problem situation. Also online research and interviewing,
reviewing of records and online data collection (online documents from
secondary sources i.e. repackage of primary source information) will be used to
collect data which can collect depth and detailed data on a range of factors
related to the topic.

Target population and study

It the group of
the population that the researcher wishes
to generalize the findings i.e. the population researcher is interested in this study. This research targeted farmers who
use traditional farming techniques and also those farmers who implement the use
of IOT in their farming techniques. For efficient and effective finding only
individuals related to the field of agriculture were used as a sample.

Sample and sampling techniques

Due to the
inability of testing all individuals in the entire population the concept of
sample arises. Sample define a presentation of the population from which a good
statistical analysis and conclusion are derived that will apply to the entire
population. Purposive sampling was implemented as a sampling technique in which
only farmers who meet specific perspectives and criteria were included. The
goal is to find farmers who had specific experience and problem in accordance with the research problem.

Instrument of data collection

This fact-finding strategy which are the tools used
for data collection for production of an expected
result. For appropriate validity and reliability of the research project
observation, record reviewing, interviewing and online reading of research
related material were used as an instrument of collecting data.

Data collection procedure

It about how the
researcher will access and gather information from the participants or hosts.
After finalizing the tools for data collection I visited the farm for
permission from the farmer for the collection
of necessary data and explained to the farmer about the purpose of the study. Appropriate precautions and necessary
steps were followed in the farm as data was collected. The interview was conducted
online where research questions were distributed online to the participant to cover a wide area. Before
assigning the task, instructions of each test used in the study were made
clear. Comparison of different records from a packaged
primary source in the field of agriculture was made so as to identify any
common or unique problems facing this sector.

Methods of data analysis

The information
collected from this data collection instruments was thoroughly checked and
reviewed for analysis and later represented in a useful and understandable
manner. Qualitative data analysis method was used to analyze data by categorizing the data which ensure a pure
description of the phenomena.


This is a section
which highlight work done by others that ties with your study work and shows
attempts to solve same problem. It provides an overview of the related areas
that were found in the papers. The leading technologies around us like wireless
sensor network(WSN),  RFID, IP,
electronic product code, barcode, Bluetooth, WI-FI, ZigBee, near filed
communication, AI have fueled IOT technology to facilitate exchange of

Related work

Nikesh Gondchawar
et al., researched a work based on IOT technology which aimed a smart
agriculture. Application of remote controlled robot that performed operation of
spraying pesticides and insectcides and weeding and theft detection in the

Benjamin roussey
et al.,conducted a similar study to evaluate the challenges facing IOT
technology in agriculture and other fields where IOT is applied. When IOT
devices are connected to a network are exposed to vulnerability due to
continous increase in the number of connected devices. Security is a big
issue  in IOT technology, exposing user
or client data. This enable hackers to uncover private information and ruin it.
Also IOT technology is not applicable in areas with internet connectivity
problem for the maintenance of centralized or cloud based servers and if
available they are it expensive to purchase IOT devices.

Muhammed et
al(2010): researched a work based on irrigation control problem using IOT. How
artificial network controller could be implemented for a better and more
sufficient way to control irrigation.

Cosmin et al: did
a research investigation to demonstrate the growing need and impact of
adaptation of IOT and artificial intelligence in agriculture. Rating and
comparing the end product of agriculture in countries that use this IT
technologies infastructures and country that don’t implement or use this
agricultural techniques.

Yethiraj et al(2012):
did a research on how data mining techniques will be used in agriculture for
adequate provision of data from agricultural resources.

Fan tongKe(2015):
a research based on how IOT will be implementation using cloud computing tools
for optimizing and handling of agricultural information collected from the

Rayala et
al,(2015): impact of IOT technology in agriculture, a feasible study based on
how to achieve a cost effective production process

Apart from
application and effect of using IOT technology in agriculture in reference to
climate change, IOT solution has been implemented in other field of agriculture
and other use cases.

Iot related application areas
in agricultural sector and other areas

Precision farming
precisionHawk drone data platform- a farming techniques implemented by use
of IOT by innovative farmers whereby a farmer become a smart web for connected
interoperable devices. Through this technology the drone can visualize, smart
analyses and planning, monitor, collect real-time data, detect weather
conditions using artificial intelligence from the environment.

Cropx’s Soil Monitoring application-
have developed an IOT platform that produces hardware and software that has the
ability to measure moisture, PH level, and temperature in the soil. The system
tell farmers when and how much to irrigate.

RFID technology-
intergration of sensor and RFID chips help to recognize and diagonise (AMRAPALIKA
expert system)various deseases that affect plant and crops; the data is send
across a remote network and the farmer get a notification necessary action to
be taken. Also RFID tags are used in animal identification, collecting
information and tracking the location of the livestocks. Also used in checking
the health condition and identify the sick animals so they can be pulled out of
the herd to avoid and prevent spread of diseases.


Compared to other farming
technique implementation of IOT technology in agriculture ensures a reliable,
sufficient, cost effective method that facilitates smart farming where human
effort is reduced, collecton of real-time data and ensure preventive and
proactive action are taken.

Agriculture is evolving with
the advent of IT. Although most farmers are unaware of IOT technology and
latest agricultural practices, those who benefit to use this technology gain
high productivity as compared to those who don’t.

For proper functioning of IOT
technology reliable and stable network should be used which is a problem in
rural and remote area due to limited bandwidth in network coverage. Also
require source of power which is a challenge to farmers in the remote rural

Security of IOT devices is also
a major challenge in securing information privacy and this lead to exposing and
ruining confidential client information. Hackers can even fabricate and modify
this information; this cause abnormal change in behaviours of actuators and

In the future decades
agricultural sector have to produce more to satisfy the rapid increase in
population growth rate, also factors of climate change will pressure farmer to
apply technique that will adapt this conditions for a continuous food productivity
and supply



 Smart farming will play an important role in
next few years in any country’s economically. IoT will help farmers to change
towards data-driven farming supported by decision-making tools with timely and
accurate operational data. Implementation of IOT system in agricultural and
other related fields will benefit clients by saving resources, facilitating
automation of activities and time.  In
the future work and study, I recommend work where by government should support
farmers living in the remote areas and 
implementation of IOT technology technique for optimization of
productivity. IOT providing company should work on softwares which ensure that
IOT devices data are secured.



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