This document outlines an "Insight as a Service" architecture for smarter agriculture using data collection, analytics, and decision support. It describes collecting data from various sources like sensors, weather, and social media and analyzing it using IBM technologies like Watson and cloud services. The goal is providing insights and recommendations to help farmers increase yields, optimize costs, and improve farm management.

1. Smarter Agriculture
(Insight as a Service)
Rick Morris
IBM Agriculture Consultant
morrisr@us.ibm.com
Ann Lambrecht
IBM Cloud Executive
Ann_lambrecht@be.ibm.com

2. Collect
• Field data
• Sensor data
• Aerial data
• Yield data
• Purchases
• Weather data Upload and transfer
• Cloud Based
• Mobile
• Access Anywhere Real-
timeMonitor
• Alerts
• Anomalies
• Crop Conditions
• Weather
Report
• Analytics
• Insight
• Actions
needed
Planting
• Real Costs at Field and Owner levels
• Manage Inputs
• Track Field Applications and Activities
• Manage Purchase Contracts
Monitoring
• Track Yield Potential in real time
• Manage Inventories by entity
• Schedule and confirm deliveries
• Manage contracts
• Follow current field dynamics and
weather conditions
Harvest
• Analyze Production data with costs
• Develop Marketing/Sales Plan for crops
• Determine Storage/Transportation
Decisions
• Determine and analyze current
conditions and develop a roadmap for
next growing season
• Prescriptions developed for increased
yields, optimized input costs, managed
irrigation, seed selection, soil
improvement, market conditions, crop
insurance, and optimized farm
management.
Precision Agriculture is a whole-farm management approach using information
technology, satellite positioning data, remote sensing and proximal data gathering. These
technologies have the goal of optimizing returns on inputs while potentially reducing
environmental impacts.
Benefits of Precision
Agriculture Strategies
• Increased farm
productivity and
reduced costs
• Better integration
of the agriculture
value chain
• More accurate
future outlook and
predictions
integrated pest
management

3. ALL OF THIS DATA …ALL OF THIS DATA …
Island SolutionsIsland SolutionsIsland SolutionsIsland Solutions
dominate and prevent optimal development for farmersdominate and prevent optimal development for farmersdominate and prevent optimal development for farmersdominate and prevent optimal development for farmers
Challenges:
Farmers buy different brands of sensored equipment
How do they safeguard the data and cooperate with other businesses?
Growers need to be able to collect, standardize, handle and analyze big data to create value
Farmer/Grower does not know what to choose from…..
Weather
Data
GIS Data from
Satellites
Drone sensor and
image transmissions
Social
Media
Pivot Irrigation
system sensors
Environmental data –
temp. humidity, wind
Seeding/Planting
Sensors
Application Sensors
for Inputs
Drip Irrigation
sensors
Soil Moisture
Sensors
Environmental data –
temp. humidity, wind
Nitrogen
Sensors
Yield Sensors on
Harvesting
Equipment
Farmer’s
Input

4. Supplier Data Layer
Grower Data Layer
Application Data Layer
Agronomy Data Layer
Planning Layer
Telematics Data Layer
Corporate Application Layer
Weather Data Layer
Market, Government and University Data Layer
Regulatory Data Layer
GIS and Drone Data Layer
Master and Meta Data Layer
BIG DATA: a big buzz phrase that few
understand, but those who do think they
understand it see the potential for
transformational change of agriculture.
Almost everything can be turned into
digital information in a world of sensors -
movement of vehicles, livestock, eyes
across a page; temperature of soils, health
of cows in pastures; plant growth, plant
species, genetics, and social media.
When those data points are strategically
layered on each other, they become 'big
data', a resource to be interrogated for
hidden patterns and trends not available
to our experience of the world through our
six senses.
Big data “is the capability to extract
information and insights where previously
it was economically, if not technically, not
possible to do so.”
DataLayers

5. Structured, Unstructured, Internal, or
External can all be indexed together in
a unified view for the end user.
“They don’t want the systems
to make decisions.
They want the system to help
wade through all the data that
exists and put the relevant
pieces in front of them so
they can make better
decisions”
Consider Watson a very smart
assistant to yourAgronomist.
John Gordon, IBM Watson Group

6. Decision Support
Support the
AGRONOMIST
JOURNEY
Support the
AGRONOMIST
JOURNEY
Analysis can and does
provide insights,
creating new agronomic
knowledge that allows
growers and advisors to
understand relationships
that were impossible to
see before. The power
of big data analytics is
handing the crystal ball
to advisors that have
local context.

7. IBM is innovating to drive solutions in Agriculture
Smarter Agriculture “Insight as a Service” Architecture
Forecasts
Mobile enabled
Soil
Management
Asset
Management
Weather
Forecast
Crop
Management
Pest & Disease
Management
Ad Hoc & Advanced
Analytics and Decision
Support Data
Visualization
Portal
Analytical Models
weathermobile satellite
Private/Hybrid Cloud
Data Sources
Agriculture
Insights
Market
Place
Large Scale
Data Ingestion
Massive Scale
SQL/NoSQL store
Spatio Temporal
Integration
Big data
processing
Large Scale
Analytics
High Performance Computing Streams Predictive Optimization
Acquired
Data
Acquired
Data
Qualified
Data
Qualified
Data
Enriched
Data
Enriched
Data
Insight DataInsight Data
Acquired
Data
Qualified
Data
Enriched
Data
Insight Data
Decision
Agriculture
Hub
Factoid
Corpus
Watson for
Agriculture
Watson engagement advisor
Watson for
Agriculture
Watson discovery advisor
ResearchC
orpus
Deep Computing
Crop physical models Farm zone management
Prediction
Nutrient
Management
Automation
Irrigation
Weather
Government/Universities Cooperatives
Go to
Market
Channels
Precision Ag companies Agribusiness companies
End User
Delivery
soil
First
party
data
Second
party
data
Third
party
datatopography Land-use Irrigationyield equipments Literature
Instrumented
Delivery

8. The Smarter Agriculture journey is comprised of three phases
Business Value
Assessment Deploy & Manage
Deploy and
Expand to
Other
Domains
3Pilot Selected Area
Pilot Selected use Cases
Precision Ag. Dec.
Support
Watson Analytics
2
User Scenario
Benefits Case Report
Journey Map
Design & Project Plan

9. Is a leader in
Mobile Solutions
and platforms
An industry
leader in Cloud
Services
CLOUD
We monitor 13 billion
security events every day and
have more than 1,000
researchers and developers
working on security and
privacy breakthroughs
Has exclusive
Watson and
cognitive computing
technology
Is a leader in the IoT
(sensors) Ecosystem
IBM is investing $3 billion
to build an "Internet of
Things" division
Is the worlds
leader in
advanced
analytics
BUSINESS ANALYTICS
IBM has the world’s deepest
portfolio of analytics and the
industry expertise of 8,000
business analytics consultants
and 400 researchers.
Has the ability to handle
massive amounts of big data
(high performance computing)
and apply the advanced
analytics in ways that are not
available today in the industry.
Has advanced weather
prediction tools like
Deep Thunder
Is the leader in
Traceability solutions and
genetics for food safety
Is the Global Leader
Social analytics
(Twitter partnership)
Only IBM is able to
deliver across the
complete ecosystem
Has industry
leading GIS and
drone data
processing
expertise
Is a leader in the weather
analytics business
The Weather Company +
IBM Cloud + IBM
Analytics and Expertise
Is the industry
Leader in Supply
Chain Analytics
& Optimization
Has the largest private
research organization in
the world
IBM Research
Innovation that Matters
• 18 years of patent leadership
• Five Nobel Laureates
• Six Turing Awards
• 12 Labs around the World
• 3000 Researchers
As a strategic partner IBM uniquely positioned to address the challenges
in the agriculture industry across the ecosystem. IBM….

10. Benefits realized from of an
Agriculture Decision Support Service:
FARMER‘S LOYALTY
Farmer’s loyalty increases as a trusted partner through assisting the
grower to optimize their operation with enhanced functionality, higher
number of touch points and accurate product information
SALES FORECASTING
Improve accuracy of Sales Forecasting and Inventory
Planning Ex. increases yield and profitable growth, requirements due
to climate conditions that are inclined to lead to pest and disease
remediation
SUPPLY CHAIN OPTIMIZATION
Data analysis enables the process optimization throughout the end-to-
end supply chain with Track & Trace capabilities allowing early
warnings for demand and fulfillment.
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Additionally to the direct access of “Info-Center” functionalities, the
farmer receives personalized information concerning his services and
products.
Example: standards per crop, type of inputs required, product
availability, application recommendation
NEW BUSINESS MODELS
Example: Crop Insurance, Micro-Loans
Due to alerting weather forecasts the farmer
acquires a performance-based insurance
coverage or environmental reporting services to
address concerns and advisory services in other
areas
Growth in New and Existing Regions
Enhanced partnerships with local dealers and Co-
ops via the decision support system provides a path
to sales of seeds, inputs and services in areas of little
or no existing sales.. Dealership involvement via
access to regional data and other areas will create an
channel opportunities in untapped regions
SOCIAL ANALYTICS
The use of Social Media channels simplifies farmer
interactions and provides additional information on
product performance, marketplace dynamics, brand
perception, etc. Examples: chat, forum platforms, FAQ.
Smarter Agriculture
(Insight as a Service)

11. Customer:Today, E. & J. Gallo Winery is the world's largest family-owned winery and the largest
exporter of California wine.
Business need:
Uniform watering and fertilization across a vineyard with varying soil characteristics can result in producing grapes
that are anything but uniform in quality. This winemaker wanted to increase the quality and quantity of its crops
while maintaining sustainable irrigation and fertilization practices.
Solution:
• Combining sensing technologies, physics, big data analytics to increase crop yield and conserve water.
• Advanced analytics calculate optimum water and fertilization needs by plant, rather than vineyard, based on
soil mapping, high-resolution satellite data and farm-level data
• Fully automated irrigation system delivers water and fertilizer with precision
Benefits:
• POC showed reduced the water consumption in the test vineyard by 20 percent
• Expected 10 to 20 percent crop yield increase.
• Better quality and more consistent grapes
20%
Decrease in water consumption
“ The solution provides a precise
and environmentally conscious
method of increasing our grape
yield and fruit quality while
conserving water. ”
Luis Sanchez, senior research
scientist - Gallo
15-20%
Increase in crop yield
E & J Gallo, uses big data and analytics from IBM to conserve
water, increase fertilizing efficiency and improve crop yield
Gallo/IBM - 2014 Vintage Report
Innovation Award

12. 12
Deep Thunder and the Flint River Partnership
Advances in Precision Agriculture & Water Optimization
In Georgia, where
agriculture has a $72
billion economic
impact, farmers are
turning to ground-
breaking technology
from IBM to help meet
ever-increasing food
production demands
and leading the way in
conservation
measures, improving
agricultural efficiency
by up to 20 percent.
Published April 23, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu1wC-hCuC0
http://www.research.ibm.com/articles/precision_agriculture.shtml

13. IBM lends analytics technology to Isabela corn farmers
(The Philippine Star) | May 31, 2015
MANILA, Philippines - Global information technology giant IBM is lending its “analytics” or data analysis technology to enable
“smarter” agriculture among corn farmers in top corn producing province Isabela and help them jack up yields by at least 30
percent.
Under the Smarter Agriculture project, IBM, in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),
the World Wildlife Fund, the Department of Science and Technology’s Advanced Science & Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI), the
Isabela State University (ISU), and the provincial government of Isabela, have developed a mobile-based and analytics powered
tool called the Farmer Decision Support System (FDSS).
IBM built the mobile-based FDSS and a data storage containing information on rainfall, temperature, humidity, wind speed,
soil moisture, historical crop yields, that will allow researchers to study the data through analytics.
IBM built the mobile-based FDSS and a data storage containing information on rainfall, temperature, humidity, wind speed,
soil moisture, historical crop yields, that will allow researchers to study the data through analytics.
The project proponents will also undertake to teach corn farmers, as well as train provincial agriculture extension workers, on its
use to help farmers make better decisions from planting of their corn seeds and when to harvest their crops.
The FDSS integrates climate and weather forecasts, and crop models, and generates these into text message advisories to farmers
on the best days to plant their seeds, when and how much fertilizers to apply, the best days to harvest, and other corn farming
concerns.
The FDSS can be accessed on its website and will feature a crop production calendar to identify optimal planting cycles and location-
specific advisories on water management, fertilizer application, and harvest.
Farmers will also be able to access these information in the form of text messages via the Smart Agri SMS service, while agricultural
technicians can access via the Smarter Agriculture website.
Rhia Trogo-Pantola, IBM Business Analytics Solutions architect, said the proper use of the FDSS is seen to improve to yield of Isabela’s
corn farmers by 30- to 50-percent.

14. Farm Management
Field and Soil
Management
Grower
Business
Planning
Advance
Sales
Analysis
My
View
Procurement
Optimization
Yield
Planning
Farm
Alerts
Regulation
Compliance
Machine
Mgt
Year-on
Year Field
Planning
Soil
Mgt
Advanced
Agronomy
Soil Analysis
Perform geo-
referenceable soil analysis
and access or merge that
data with other sources or
on other devices
Analyze soil to optimize
seeding
Secure advanced
agronomy services
Compare year-over-year yield
information to improve farm
productivity
Merge yield with forecasted
supply and demand to improve
planting decisions
Procure seed based on farm
management analysis
Yield Planning
App
Farm, Field and Crop Management apps Powered by Analytics help growers execute critical farm activities
Banking Finance
& Insurance
Budget
Planner
Insurance
Claim
Banking
Bill Pay
Gain access to
reliable lenders at fair
interest rates in order
to sustain farm
operations
Increase and expand
personal farm into
profitable business
• USDA Programs
Micro-Banking and
Insurance App
Crop
Rotation
soil
erosion
Crop
Protection
Crop
Nutrients
Crop & Health
Management
Capture images to scale of
problem areas and share
with remote agronomists
Get diagnoses and order
prescriptions in real-time
from device
Crop Disease App
Crop Nutrient App
Harvesting
Yield
Estimator
Growth
Stage
Estimat
or
GDU
Calculator
Growing Degree Unit (GDU)
Calculator
Get field-by-field
crop progress and
14-day forecast.
Track GDU
accumulation on
farm and compare
total GDUs and year-
to-year
comparisons.
Field
Weath
er
Foreca
st
Weather
Forecast
Deep
Thunder
Long-term
Weather
Seasonal
Weather
Water Mgt
Climate & Weather
Deep Thunder App
Weather Feeds
Secure precision
forecast with deep
analysis to mitigate
risk and plan ahead
for weather
conditions and
impacts
Improve understand
of what Dow
AgroScience seed to
purchase to drive
higher yields
Market Watch
Dealer/Co-op
Products and
Services