Advantages and disadvantages of automation in agriculture

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A greenhouse has moisture sensors that switch the pump on only when the soil is dry. Which is an advantage of this?

A Less water is wasted because the pump only runs when needed

B The system never needs any power or maintenance

2. A farm has 40 greenhouses. The owner uses an automated system to check temperature and humidity day and night. Which advantage does this show?

A Constant monitoring, even at night when workers are asleep

B The system can decide what to do in any unexpected situation

3. A small family farm is thinking about buying an automatic watering system. Which is the most relevant disadvantage?

A The cost of buying, installing and maintaining it may be too high for a small farm

B The system will always need more workers than before

4. A temperature sensor in a greenhouse breaks and always reads 10 °C, even on a hot day. What could happen?

A The system notices the fault and fixes the sensor itself

B The heater stays on and the crops overheat and die

5. A storm causes a power cut at a farm with an automatic watering system and no back-up supply. What is the likely result?

A The sensors keep controlling the actuators as normal

B The pumps and fans stop, so the crops are not watered or cooled

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1IF moisture < 30 THEN pump ON		AThe greenhouse climate control opens the vent automatically when the temperature is too high, so the plants are monitored constantly without a worker checking
2IF temperature > 28 THEN vent OPEN		BThe system waters the crops automatically when the soil moisture reading falls below the stored value, so water is only used when needed and less is wasted
3A disadvantage of automation: if a moisture sensor develops a fault and always reports wet soil, the pump never switches on and the crops can die		Cmoisture ← 90 (faulty) : IF moisture < 30 THEN pump ON
4An advantage of automation: the system checks the greenhouse all day and night, so a farmer does not need to take readings by hand		DAutomated systems need electricity. Without a backup supply a power cut stops the sensors, pump and vents, so crops could dry out or overheat.
5A small farm buys an automatic watering system, so its costs fall straight away		EThis ignores the high cost of buying, installing and maintaining the system. A small farm may not be able to afford it, so costs do not fall straight away.
6During a power cut, the greenhouse sensors and pumps keep working normally		FWHILE TRUE: temperature ← READ_SENSOR()

Definitions

agricultural automation

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

Pro: sensors _______ crops all night

IF moisture _ 30 THEN pump ← ON ENDIF

Con: high ____ for a small farm

Con: a faulty sensor can ____ the crops

Con: a _____ cut stops the pump

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A WHILE TRUE DO

B moisture ← ReadMoisture()

C IF moisture < 30 THEN

D pump ← OFF

E ENDIF

F ENDWHILE

Question 2

A minTemp ← 18

B maxTemp ← 28

C temp ← ReadTemp()

D IF temp < maxTemp THEN

E vent ← OPEN

F ENDIF

Question 3

A rain ← ReadRainSensor()

B IF rain = 0 THEN

C pump ← OFF

D ENDIF

Question 4

A moisture ← ReadMoisture()

B IF moisture <> -1 THEN

C OUTPUT "Sensor fault"

D ENDIF

Question 5

A power ← ReadMains()

B IF power = "OFF" THEN

C OUTPUT Power cut

D backup ← ON

E ENDIF

Answer Key

Advantages and disadvantages of automation in agriculture

Section A: Quick Questions

A — Less water is wasted because the pump only runs when needed

A — Constant monitoring, even at night when workers are asleep

A — The cost of buying, installing and maintaining it may be too high for a small farm

B — The heater stays on and the crops overheat and die

B — The pumps and fans stop, so the crops are not watered or cooled

Section B: Match the Pairs

IF moisture < 30 THEN pump ON → The system waters the crops automatically when the soil moisture reading falls below the stored value, so water is only used when needed and less is wasted

IF temperature > 28 THEN vent OPEN → The greenhouse climate control opens the vent automatically when the temperature is too high, so the plants are monitored constantly without a worker checking

A disadvantage of automation: if a moisture sensor develops a fault and always reports wet soil, the pump never switches on and the crops can die → moisture ← 90 (faulty) : IF moisture < 30 THEN pump ON

An advantage of automation: the system checks the greenhouse all day and night, so a farmer does not need to take readings by hand → WHILE TRUE: temperature ← READ_SENSOR()

A small farm buys an automatic watering system, so its costs fall straight away → This ignores the high cost of buying, installing and maintaining the system. A small farm may not be able to afford it, so costs do not fall straight away.

During a power cut, the greenhouse sensors and pumps keep working normally → Automated systems need electricity. Without a backup supply a power cut stops the sensors, pump and vents, so crops could dry out or overheat.

Section C: Definitions

agricultural automation — Sensors and actuators water crops and control climate. Pros: constant monitoring, less water wasted, less labour. Cons: high cost, sensor faults can kill crops, power cuts.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

Pro: sensors monitor crops all night

IF moisture < 30 THEN
  pump ← ON
ENDIF

Con: high cost for a small farm

Con: a faulty sensor can kill the crops

Con: a power cut stops the pump

Section E: Spot the Error

D — When the soil moisture is below 30 the soil is too dry, so the automatic watering system must switch the pump ON, not OFF. The line should be: pump ← ON.

D — The comparison is the wrong way round. The greenhouse vent should only open when the temperature is ABOVE the maximum, so it should be IF temp > maxTemp THEN.

B — Water is only saved if the pump is switched off when it is raining. The condition should be IF rain > 0 THEN, otherwise the pump stops when there is no rain and water is wasted when there is.

B — A reading of -1 means the sensor has failed. The fault message must only show when moisture = -1. With <> it would warn on every good reading and stay silent about a fault that could kill the crops.

C — Text to be output must be inside quotation marks. It should be OUTPUT "Power cut" so the farmer is warned that the automatic system has lost power.