How To Create An Agriculture App? Benefits, Features, & Cost
Introduction
Farming is the occupation which has existed since the beginning of the time. It received significant restorations during the previous century, especially in the last three decades. A few decades ago it was hard to imagine a connection between a mobile phone and agriculture, but now it’s a reality. Many agricultural mobile apps have been launched, and they have created a significant impact on the daily lives of millions of farmers.
According to Statista, the smart agricultural business is anticipated to increase from $15 billion in 2022 to $33 billion US Dollars in 2027.
Use Of Mobile Apps In Agriculture
Agriculture apps are designed to help farmers in managing their farms efficiently and effectively. Let’s have a deeper look at how agriculture app development helps farmers:
- Crop Management
Agriculture apps assist farmers in managing their crops by suggesting to them how they can improve their yielding style, soil fertility, weather forecast and many more.
- Irrigation Management
Agriculture apps with the feature of weather forecasting suggest the farmers when they have to irrigate the crop. It reduces the water usage and helps in maintaining proper water for crops.
- Inventory Management
Some agriculture apps help in managing the inventory of the farm which includes the feeding schedule, breeding and healthcare.
- Market Information
Mobile apps give accurate market information to the farmers when they are sitting at their home. It helps the farmers to get the best price for their crops while giving them ideas about the market price, demand and supply.
- Finance Management
One of the best uses of the agriculture mobile apps is that farmers can help in managing their finances. They can keep track of their expenses and incomes, which led them in making the accurate decision of investment.
Benefits of Agriculture App Development
The demand for food is an ongoing challenge and agriculture is the only way to fulfill this demand, and this requires innovative solutions. Innovation in every industry raises concerns regarding the innovation in agriculture. Agriculture app development is the sophisticated way to eliminate the challenge of food while helping farmers by providing them the information they need to increase their yields.
- Increases Efficiency
Agriculture app development helps farmers manage their crops more efficiently by giving information on the condition of the soil, weather predictions, market demand and supply, and managing crops. This knowledge assists farmers in making more accurate decisions about when to start sowing, what to sow, and how to harvest their crops.
- Maximizes Productivity
By providing farmers with the tools to manage their farms effectively helps in maximizing their productivity which also helps them in gaining more profit on their cultivated crops. For instance, with weather forecasting tools farmers get prepared for everything in advance, which eliminates the risk of excessive water with rainfall or excessive drought without rainfall.
- Improves Sustainability
Agriculture app development helps farmers in reducing the impact of the environment on agriculture and increases sustainability. Precision agriculture techniques optimize the crop growth, farmers can reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers and promote pesticides free crops.
- Alerts Against Impediment
Farmers who consider farm holdings, large scale sensors can be installed on the field whose collective data can be assessed through app dashboards. These sensors give information about the vulnerable patches of pest infestation, falling batch of crops, and nutrient deficiency, among others.
- Better Decision-Making
With smartphones getting affordable at a minute farmers can download the guide books in no time and implement it in their fields. Agriculture apps give the up to date information of the market price, demand and supply which help the farmers in better decision making.
Types Of Agriculture Apps
Technology has invaded practically every aspect of agricultural operations, from crop seeding to crop sale to end customers. Here are some farming applications that can help farmers cultivate crops, care for them, calculate environmental impacts, and monitor other aspects of their agricultural business, such as animals.
- Weather Forecasting App
Weather has a significant impact on agricultural output, and farmers can use weather forecasting systems to plan planting, irrigation, and harvesting schedules. These apps offer farmers temperature, rainfall, humidity, and wind speed statistics based on real-time meteorology data and forecasts.
- Cattle Management App
Cattle management software is primarily aimed for cattle ranchers. Farmers can use these apps to evaluate herd health and productivity, manage breeding schedules, and track feed and water consumption.
- Agriculture Planning and Mapping
Apps for farm planning and mapping are among the most popular agricultural technology solutions. Farmers can use them to track crop development, care for livestock, and forecast adverse weather.
- GPS Tracking App
Farmers employ GPS tracking programs to monitor the location of farm equipment and vehicles. These apps use GPS technology to provide real-time position and movement information for tractors, combines, and other agricultural equipment, helping farmers to enhance operations and save downtime.
- Grain Elevator App
Farmers can utilize grain elevator software to manage their grain supplies and track prices in real time. These apps allow farmers to monitor current market prices, manage contracts, and track grain elevator deliveries.
Must-Have Features to Include in an Agriculture App
Mobile agriculture has successfully extended into previously uncharted regions. Agricultural app development is currently assisting many farmers and agriculture-based enterprises in expanding and increasing production to reach a larger market. Consider the following features while developing an agriculture app.
- GPS Tracking and Location-Based Services
It’s hard to imagine agricultural software without a map. Farmers can use mapping to access a range of location-based features, such as tracking drone investigations and viewing local weather forecasts. A location-based service can also help divide a field into polygons so that each can be explored independently and identify areas that require special attention. Farmers can utilize maps to locate specialist crops, pesticide applicators, and other resources.
- Weather analysis
Forecasting is a crucial aspect in developing agricultural applications. Farmers who have apps with these features will be able to predict weather and crop viability well in advance, allowing them to take the necessary precautions to protect their harvests.
- Crops and agricultural goods list
Some applications serve as markets for agricultural commodities like insecticides, seeds, and machines. Farmers may get the best deals by utilizing agricultural markets, which bring together buyers, sellers, and producers. Each listing in a marketplace app includes a photo, a description of the product, delivery timeframes, cost of the agricultural goods and so on.
- Integration of data-driven visualization.
Some agricultural apps use visual data and machine learning to help farmers spot plant illnesses early on, identify weeds, monitor nitrogen levels, and analyze leaf damage. There are various open-source machine vision libraries; get assistance from experienced developers to choose the best one for you.
- Push notifications
Any mobile application must support push notifications. They help farmers stay on top of the countless chores that require their attention, alerting them to changes, crises, and new data, as well as reminding them of calendar events. Rich push notifications, which contain graphics and maps, can be utilized to deliver additional information in your reminders.
- Schedule Management
A crop timetable in agriculture app helps farmers in organizing crop cultivation, planting and harvesting. This tool helps farmers in managing their crop quality with the timely schedules of fertilizers, insecticides, irrigation, and other crop management chores.
- Payment Gateway Integration
Create an agriculture app, like an ecommerce app for farmers, from which they can easily obtain cultivation and farming basics such as pesticides, insecticides, seeds, and other agricultural equipment. Having a trustworthy payment gateway integrated into the app facilitates secure payments via credit/debit card, online banking, and e-wallets.
- Integration Of Drone Technology
One of the most important aspects of the mobile farming app is drone integration. Farmers can use drones to monitor the condition of the crops and make strategic decisions to increase quality. Farmers can use drones equipped with infrared cameras to apply pesticides, collect soil samples, and find water leaks. However, drones are subject to a number of regulatory constraints, including the need for them to only fly throughout the day and remain accessible to pilots at all times.
Steps To Create An Agriculture App
Developing crop farming software necessitates careful thought throughout the development process. Because each stage is critical, we’ve compiled them all in one spot and provided farm app development guidance.
Developing an agriculture mobile app is time-consuming and requires careful planning. Consider several crucial aspects while creating a responsive mobile app for your agricultural business.
1- Ideation and project appraisal.
To get started on your project, assemble a small team managed by a project manager. To develop a well-documented business plan, the team should include an architect of software and a number of business analysts.
Business analysts should gather and evaluate the functional specifications that your app must meet.
Ideation is the first stage in developing agricultural apps, during which you seek solutions to a variety of problems. The questions may include how you want your agriculture applications to benefit farmers, as well as the region, nation, or area you wish to target.
2- Business and technical specifications analysis
A business analyst is a technical practitioner who can identify the most effective technological solution to a real-world problem. Typically, the business analyst’s work yields a technical specification: a codified document that details all aspects of the development process, such as features, timetables, pricing, team members, and so on.
A technical specification provides instructions for developers while ensuring that the client receives exactly what they want. This step is essential if you want to build an agriculture app; it will assist you in designing a farm app, controlling the process, and testing your product.
3- Create a project plan.
It is your obligation to develop a strong project strategy to ensure the success of your agriculture app. Incorporate the MVP and its future tasks, dependencies, timing, and budget into your project plan. In addition, consider the following metrics: quality standards, risk management, communication management, human resource management, stakeholder management, and so on.
4. Pre-development phase.
The next phase requires farm app developers to specify the required back-end APIs, third-party services, cloud storage, and other app architecture-based components of the development process.
Designers, on the other hand, start by creating wireframes and prototypes before designing functionality, graphics, and controls. At this point, developers should exercise prudence and focus on creating a scalable foundation that can be adjusted as needed in the future.
5. Building and testing the agribusiness app.
Native, cross-platform, and hybrid app development all need the usage of various technologies and tools. The app specification sheet you generated previously serves as a baseline, ensuring that nothing is overlooked during development.
Meanwhile, the quality assurance crew continues the testing process after the programmers have completed each module. This type of testing aids app development by allowing for concurrent testing and handling complications.
6. Launching and Deploying the App
This is when the rest of the world discovers your app. Once your developers have confirmed that the app meets all app store requirements, you will be ready to launch it and start collecting data.
Your target market will decide the strategy you utilize to acquire consumers. Traditional marketing and highly targeted digital marketing are the most effective strategies to promote your application directly to farmers.
7. Post-Launch Support
Developing agricultural applications does not stop with deployment. An application cannot exist unless it is regularly maintained. As the world transitions to new operating systems, new technologies and frameworks emerge, requiring your app to develop.
During the maintenance phase, you can upgrade and create new features, as well as make minor changes to your project. This ensures that your software remains relevant and delivers the most value to your customers.
Build Cutting-Edge Agriculture App With Royo
Royo is the best agriculture software development services provider specializing in building and upgrading state-of-the-art applications for agriculture and other domains. Our expert developers will work on your project to construct a digital platform for collecting payments from farmers and clients in the agricultural industry. We use cutting-edge technology and best practices to ensure your program is secure, scalable, and user-friendly. Using our bespoke app development experience, we can construct a digital platform that boosts agricultural productivity and efficiency, allowing you to earn more money from your clients.