The 4G Internet, when associated with digital agriculture, is the facilitating factor for connecting many devices that will enhance various activities performed in the field
Nowadays, connectivity, via 4G internet, has been considered by many as the main lubricant of a great gear called agribusiness.
To this end, the need for the expansion of 4G internet installations in rural areas has brought together joint efforts of public and private authorities, foundations, and research institutes. These efforts aim to identify what the needs of rural producers are and relate them to the most efficient solutions to achieve a more comprehensive 4G internet coverage within the national territory.
Initially, it is worth highlighting the most recent results on internet access in the countryside. The PNAD TIC survey pointed out a growth of 3.6 percentage points in the use of the technology, indicating that 55.6% of households in rural areas are connected.
Another piece of information highlighted in the survey is the number of households using 3G or 4G mobile broadband, 81.2% by the year 2019. Since then, many solutions have been developed, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
In this sense, a survey presented in 2020 by MAPA highlights two scenarios: the first would be the use of 4,400 towers built in the country, waiting for the installation of antennas, which would cover about 24.49% of the need for connection in the field. And the second scenario would rely on the installation of another 15,182 tower/antenna sets, in order to cover the remaining 75.51%.
Applications and signal quality for 4G Internet
4G Internet is characterized as the fourth generation of mobile telephony. It uses LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology to provide higher quality and speed of data traffic shared between electronic devices.
These differentials, in relation to previous technologies (2G and 3G), are fundamental for the execution of rural activities. After all, the producer needs a consistent and stable connection to have access to diagnostic data, soil management, and harvest control.
Still, it is necessary to investigate the availability of 4G internet services in the region, since some modalities still have difficulty working, especially in mountainous regions or in valley bottoms.
For these situations, rural mobile internet has presented itself as the best alternative, as operators are developing solutions to provide better access conditions for rural dwellers.
A practical example has been made available by the operator TIM. It is Live INTERNET Rural, a broadband service that does not require cabling because it uses the 700Mhz frequency of the 4G network. Thus, access is made with a chip that is connected to the modem and plugged into the outlet.
Reflections of Rural 4G Internet on Agricultural Profits
In the survey we initially cited by MAPA, in addition to the analysis of the network infrastructure, a survey was conducted on the potential impact of rural internet on national agricultural production.
Using clippings such as access to infrastructure and socioeconomic conditions, the results of the Gross Value of Production (GVP) were simulated if agricultural activities were optimized with the technologies provided by 4G internet.
If the idle capacity of the 4,400 towers were in use, the VBP would be 4.5% higher than the one registered in the year of the research, adding up to R$21.09 billion. In addition, the calculation accounted for the expanded range with 15,182 more transmission lines. The result was even higher, registering a profit of R$44.64 billion, representing a growth of 9.6% in the sector’s total profitability.
Those responsible for the study confirmed that growth in both scenarios would be enabled by access to the 4G internet and the adoption of more productive technologies associated with connectivity.
In other words, if the producer puts the functionalities of agriculture 4.0 into use, the results are observed from planning to the final profit from agricultural production.
In the video produced by Embrapa Digital Agriculture (presented below) it is possible to see the research and solutions that are being developed to help the Brazilian farmer.
Benefits of rural 4G Internet on the farm
In the previous topics, we have highlighted the importance of 4G rural technology for agricultural activities, the challenges to increasing coverage in the national territory, and the impacts on production profitability via increased access to connectivity.
Productive and financial gains are achieved with the solutions made available by agriculture 4.0, conceptualized as a set of high-performance computing methods applied to the management of agricultural activities.
As such, the 4G internet connection enables the application of various systems, such as:
- Sensor network;
- Machine-to-machine communication (M2M);
- Connectivity between mobile devices:
- Cloud computing; and
- Systems that process large volumes of data (Big Data).
All these technologies and features act directly on the growth of productivity rates, efficiency in the use of inputs, reduction of labor costs, and improve the quality of working conditions and safety of field teams.
With this perspective we will list four benefits arising from rural 4G Internet access:
Climate monitoring:
Considering that the results of agricultural production are directly linked to weather conditions, it can be said that the use of sensors contributes positively to the planning and diagnosis of crops.
With these devices connected to the 4G Internet network, it is possible to have a more detailed diagnosis of weather forecasts, helping to make decisions on the anticipation or postponement of the planting period or harvest, for example.
Geospatial analysis:
Through productivity maps generated by drones, it is possible to survey/monitor natural resources (native vegetation), and map the use and coverage of the soil plot by plot, among other information.
The documents generated by the drones are sent to monitoring centers via 4G internet, with them being divided into different groups of data, such as productivity and harvest maps.
Pest and disease control:
The 4G internet present on the farm will also be a great ally for the producer to use specific software for pest and disease control in crops.
With the transmission of data via the 4G internet, the technical managers will be able to act quickly, allowing them to apply solutions that are effective in the management of diseases. In addition, such software recommends the rational use of pesticides, in order to avoid harm to workers and the environment.
Agricultural machinery management:
The software responsible for generating telemetry data that are available for tractors, planters, and harvesters is increasingly connected to the network every day.
They guarantee the farmer the possibility of optimizing work time, planning planting and harvesting routes, in addition to alerting, in real-time, about possible problems in the machines or the need for refueling.