Taoyuan District Agricultural Improvement Station's smart agriculture system is open for free, a set of sensor and controller costs 7,000 yuan

Smart agriculture has become a trend. The Taoyuan District Agricultural Improvement Station (abbreviated as Taoyuan DAIS) of the Council of Agriculture has launched a "smart agriculture development system," developing field environment sensors, controllers and a remote control system, so farmers can patrol their fields without going to the site. The system is open for free use, and a set of sensors and controllers costs only 7,000 yuan. Compared with the tens of thousands of yuan charged by other vendors, the agricultural improvement station hopes to increase farmers' willingness to use it at the most economical cost.

As for how much cost can actually be saved? Lai Hsin-chung explained that for watering alone, calculated by hourly wage, one person managing one fen of land costs 4,200 yuan a month, about 50,000 yuan a year. If a smart system is relied on, these labor costs can be saved.

"When the system was first built, the hope was for farmers to achieve smart management at the cheapest price, so they would not even need to go to the field." Lai said that saving labor management costs can also expand the area managed, and young farmers just starting out do not have to work so hard to finish these field tasks.

Lai Hsin-chung explained that if farmers already have equipment such as greenhouses, fans and watering systems, they only need to add sensors and controllers to achieve a smart monitoring system, "turning what was originally manual into automatic control." As long as farmers have internet, electricity and the corresponding management equipment in the field, it can operate.

Farmers: The monitored values are very helpful for new farming beginners

However, for farmers lacking equipment, cost is a different consideration. Although the system is free and the sensors and controllers are also low-priced, simply building a simple greenhouse costs 800,000 yuan, and other corresponding equipment such as sprinkler systems, fans and shade nets are all costs.

Farmer Chiu Kuan-chun, who is actually cooperating in the trial, said that it is still in preliminary testing, with one module installed in each of two greenhouses to monitor values such as air temperature, humidity and soil moisture. But because the greenhouses have not yet been equipped with corresponding equipment such as fans and shade nets, automated operation is not yet possible, and manual operation is still used first. For example, when soil water shortage is detected, they hurry to water by hand. "By operating according to the data, the quality of the vegetables is all quite good."

Will fans, shade nets and watering equipment be considered for installation in the future? Chiu Kuan-chun responded, "Relevant equipment will definitely be installed, because it saves a lot of cost." He said that summer irrigation and watering alone requires one person's labor, and if an automated irrigation system is installed, this labor cost is saved. "More importantly, the values obtained from monitoring are of great help to farmers who have just entered farming, letting them know when to replenish water, and field management loses many troubles."

Because Chiu Kuan-chun's greenhouses are relatively large, ranging from 75 to 100 ping, it is estimated that one module per greenhouse is enough. He emphasized that when farmers use this module set, they should still calculate according to their individual cultivated area, yield and relevant equipment. There is no fixed standard, but estimating for one's own field area, using it indeed fits the cost.