5G tech in farming: PM Modi expected to interact with farmer representatives

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet farmer representatives on Saturday during his schedule to commercially roll out 5G in the country. Modi will visit the India Mobile Congress 2022 exhibition and will witness demonstrations of the uses of 5G technology in multiple areas.

Earlier, the three major telecom operators of India demonstrate one use case each in front of Modi. Reliance Jio demonstrated 5G use by connecting a teacher from a school in Mumbai with students in three different locations in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Odisha.

Airtel demonstrated how a girl from Uttar Pradesh could witness a lively and immersive education experience to learn about the solar system with the help of virtual reality and augmented reality. Vodafone Idea was to demonstrate the safety of workers in an under-construction tunnel of Delhi Metro by creating a digital twin of the tunnel.

5G can be immensely helpful in augmenting farming technology. Agriculture's contribution to India's GDP has been dismal despite a large portion of the country's workforce in the industry. Technology, especially 5G, is expected to help farmers make better use to monitor weather, real-time prices, world trends, and livestock, among others.

5G will enable farmers to farmers to get real-time data on machines. This will boost the capabilities of conventional farming machines. 5G in machines is also useful for real-time tracking by farmers.

5G can help farmers in more effective irrigation by helping detect the amount of water needed and the timings. As per a News18 report, one can use soil probes buried under the earth and can be connected through 5G. These devices have the ability to capture data such as moisture content, soil patterns and salinity.

The other use case is, of course,  5G smartphone agri apps that can provide real-time weather data to help prepare farmers for any event that could affect crops. Apps also help farmers stay updated with trends and prices.

Cattle farming is another area where 5G technology will help farmers to track the health and location of their livestock. 5G tech can also provide data about cattle, such as their food intake and fertility.