The Devil is in the deployment: Lessons learned while deploying an AI and IoT-enabled hydroponics grow tent with rural subsistence farmers in South Africa
Taryn Wilson, Hafeni Mthoko, Yusra Adnan, Sarina C. Till · 2024
Hydroponic farming is a sustainable alternative to traditional agriculture, allowing farmers to grow crops more efficiently. This type of farming involves growing plants in water without needing soil. There is increasing agreement that this agricultural approach should be utilized to mitigate food insecurity, particularly considering the fluctuating and unpredictability of weather conditions. However, this approach requires technical expertise in addition to consistent monitoring. Existing research has focused on applying The Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to the automation and monitoring of hydroponic farming systems. However, limited work tested the viability of these systems in the field with farmers. This study focused on including rural subsistence farmers in farming alongside a seven-month and ongoing deployment of an AI and IoT-enabled hydroponics system following a qualitative approach that entailed focus groups with the farmers and observations of the hydroponic systems. This paper discusses the lessons learned regarding unpredictable and uncontrollable extreme weather conditions, equipment failure, choices in nutrient solutions, and pest infestations, which often all have unplanned and unintended consequences for these systems and farmers. We argue that more deployments are needed to better understand how these systems function in real-world settings.