Smart City Playbook

Environment & Agriculture

Usecases

Smart Farming Solutions

The Smart Farming Solutions initiative includes a set of agricultural assistive technologies that are promising to reduce waste, improve productivity, and enable management of a greater number of resources. Given its scarce resources, Al Madinah city needs to leverage smart farming solutions such as hydroponics, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, ground robots and automated farming technologies tailored for small scale production, eventually maximizing efficiency and minimizing costs for producers. The city can also leverage drones to monitor large areas and spray plants and crops. These drones use GPS and follow automatic routes to spray pesticides in farms. A suite of IoT sensors can be leveraged to monitor humidity and temperature and control the level of water required, thus reducing unnecessary consumption. Hydroponic promises also to foster the utilization of additional land that might have been deemed unusable before. All these technologies would operate together to boost productivity while also cutting waste of resources.

KEY

CHALLENGES

Farmers are still using traditional farming methods, leading to inefficient production, misuse of resources, and lack of crop diversity

Farmers are not enabled with the necessary resources to effectively engage in farm-to-table process

Sector stakeholders are unaware of sustainability commitments and environmental responsibility principles

KEY EXPECTED BENEFITS

Less Cost

Farmers will save costs in the medium to long term

Sustainable Consumption

Unnecessary consumption will be reduced to maintain and protect natural resources

Increased Productivity

The crop yield will be higher and more efficient

ALIGNMENT TO SMART CITY OBJECTIVES

Prosperous

Efficient

TARGET USERS

Farmer

Business Owner

USE CASE

JOURNEY

Ahmed is a farm owner who wants to improve production, increase efficiency, track the quality of products and reduce waste. He purchases an agricultural drone to enhance production efficiency, increase profitability, and optimize production costs. The drone monitors large areas of his field and sprays plants and crops against pests.

Ahmed also gets a tablet that supports him in monitoring vitals of his crops through deployed sensors and beacons around his farm. This tablet is connected to a smart irrigation system that detects the current humidity, heat, and soil conditions and determines the specific amount of water to be dispensed for each plant. The sensors collects data which are populated on a dashboard for Ahmed and provide recommendations on any necessary interventions.

Through the dashboard, Ahmed can monitor the farm’s key indicators, such as crops’ health, fertilization requirements, and yield forecast. The tablet also allows him to monitor his inventory of seeds and sends notification to purchase additional inventory after reaching a defined threshold. The dashboard allows him to track his confirmed orders for the year and monitor any potential shortages or surpluses to be managed.

POTENTIAL SERVICE FEATURES

Smart irrigation system

Drones for monitoring fields

IoT sensors for monitoring and improving crop yield

Detection of crop diseases and pest damage

Data-based crop forecast

Robotics, automation and digitalization for efficient resource management

Integrated supply chain

Incentives and exemptions to solar farms

KEY TOUCH POINTS

Website

Application

Drones

Agriculture Machinery

Robotics

Irrigation System

Solar Panels

Implementation
Timeline

Within 6 months

12 – 18 months

Over 24 months

Technology Commercial Viability

Currently commercialized

1 – 3 years to commercialize

5+ years to
commercialize

Regulatory Conduciveness

No New Policies and
Standards

Some Policies &
Standards to be
Introduced

Complex Policies to be
Introduced

Investment Requirement

Low

Medium

High

Use Case Ownership

Government Driven

Piloted by Gov. & Transitioned to Private Sector

Private Sector

Startups & Entrepreneurs

IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS

Policies for water usage in private properties

Integration with smart home management systems

Regulations for seed imports

POTENTIAL TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

IN THE MARKET

Environment & Agriculture

Use Cases

Smart Farming Solutions

Eco Digital Wallet

“Farm-to-Table” 
Transformation Toolkit

Sustainable Living Dashboard “Rasheed”

Zero Food Waste Platform “Ne3mah”

Smart Waste
Management

Central Farmers Community & Marketplace

Vertical & Community Agriculture

Smart Green Buildings

Interactive Connected Street