5 benefits of data-driven growing for high-tech greenhouses

A vast amount of data can be collected in a greenhouse. You can place sensors inside the greenhouse to collect data that make it possible for you to control the most important climatic conditions, such as temperature, humidity, light and CO2 levels. As the sensors work all the time, you can adjust settings inside the greenhouse whenever you know this is needed to create the optimal environments for your plants, so that you can optimise plant growth.  As a result, you’ll have healthier plants and higher yields.

These same sensors can be used to monitor soil moisture levels.  By monitoring the data for a while, you can see patterns. You can make sure to only water the plants when this is necessary, and water them the correct amount of water. This will allow you to reduce the cost of water and energy, which is good for the total cost of your greenhouse, and also sustainable, which is important nowadays. Then you can also equip your greenhouse with LED lights that use less energy and based on the data you will know when and with which intensity you should turn them on, so that the plants inside always have the same, and correct, level of light. A cost reduction that benefits the health of your plants.

Use the data that is collected from the sensors, in your and in other greenhouses, to optimise the growing conditions for specific plants and crops. Sensors monitor crops, soil, and resources, which is needed to farm more efficiently. It will be easier to manage the use of pests, water and other supplements needed by your plants. The correct use of data and the use of artificial intelligence increase the yield, but also the quality of this yield. The pests you use will be recommended ones, therefore not or less harmful for the planet. Algorithms can classify and analyse data and draw conclusions and even make predictions. It can allow you to produce higher-quality crops that are, for instance, more resistant to diseases or pests. It will also help you choose which crops to grow in your specific greenhouse and its soil. Not only will your yield be bigger, but your risk will also be substantially lower.

Big data, which are data collected around the world and in your neighbourhood, can give you data on rainfall, fertiliser requirements and much more. It allows your greenhouse, and you, to make decisions about what to plant, when to harvest, etc. It allows you to make the right decisions for your greenhouse, your yields, and therefore your future in agriculture. It can help you plant with precision and automate the harvest at the very best moment. Combined with the best growing conditions, it will allow data-driven greenhouses to achieve much higher yields than traditional greenhouses. Which is good for your business, and for the need to feed an ever-growing population.

There are several ways data-driven practice in your greenhouse can reduce labour and equipment costs:

1. Tasks such as irrigation or the injection of fertilisers can be automated. There is less need for manual labour on the field.
2. The use of sensors combined with the right alerts will make sure problems are detected in an early stage. You can therefore often avoid expensive repairs, and the cost of the repairman. Equipment such as tractors can give alerts when servicing is needed, or when they need to be fuelled, which can save time.
3. As efficiency and yield increase, the cost of labour per unit or output will decrease.

You might have heard this expression before, it is often used in the world of data handling and data science. Garbage in is Garbage out (GIGO) is exactly what it says to be: if you put bad data in your system, you’ll get bad results, in this case bad greenhouse advice. Your system might give you controversial predictions and conclusions, it will give you bad insight in your greenhouse, which can easily lead to bad decisions. What are bad data? Bad data are not only wrong data, but it can also mean missing data or data that is much different from the other data. For example. For Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, reliable data are primordial. Professional analysis of the data, combined with the correct software, can diminish the problem.

As you can see here, data-driven agriculture has several benefits over traditional cultivation, most of them are reducing costs while increasing yields, in quality and in quantity. We can therefore quite safely say that a high-tech greenhouse has a good or even a high return of investment. Furthermore, the reduction of use of water and energy is important in today’s life, and thus in agriculture. If you're looking to improve your greenhouse operation, consider implementing some data-driven practices today!