South Africa: Bringing Agricultural Modernization Closer Leveraging 5G Smart Farming

Currently, agriculture sector accounts for between 19 and 29 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. "A more efficient and sustainable agricultural sector would benefit not only the South African economy, but also job creation," said Kian Chen, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Huawei South Africa.

He stated that Huawei is still committed to ensuring that technology promotes more sustainable practices while also improving people's lives and livelihoods. "Projects like the one carried out by our Austrian colleagues and Dronetech demonstrate not only that this is possible, but that it could be done anywhere in the world, including in South Africa."

Huawei and Dronetech (Austria's largest drone provider) demonstrated what this future might look like at the Nussböckgut vineyard, a centuries-old estate in Upper Austria. The two companies provided an update on a groundbreaking project that has been running since last year and demonstrated how their 5G and IoT technologies can advance agricultural sustainability.

Huawei will provide cloud computing services on top of 5G in the latest phase of the project, which will serve as the foundation for real-time artificial intelligence (AI) analysis. Meanwhile, Dronetech's drones equipped with high-resolution cameras and sensors will survey the land and objects, capturing images and data that will be processed by AI and delivered to users in real time.

Farmers can use the technology to detect small insects, monitor crop status, and predict harvests, allowing them to use water, chemicals, and pesticides more precisely and with less waste. Huawei and Dronetech are investigating a shared-use model for the technologies

Such an approach could be especially beneficial in a country like South Africa, where the farmers who would benefit the most from such revolutionary technologies are often unable to afford them. Agriculture is still important to the South African economy, with a growth rate of 8.3 percent in 2021, second only to mining.