The Role of Smart Waste Management in Smart Agriculture

Abstract

The agriculture sector and its development have played an important role in nurturing the modern civilisation. Agriculture produces food through the utilisation of resources, including nutrient, water and soil. Traditional agriculture has met with concern over the emission of greenhouse gas (GHG), drainage of water resource, consumption of fertiliser and production of waste. Optimising agricultural productivity is essential to meet the growing food demand associated with the rapid population growth worldwide. Smart agriculture (SA) is the approach focusing on agricultural practices that increase productivity and resource resilient while reducing GHG emission. SA has incorporated optimal farming management on water usage, fertiliser application and crop’s production through internet-of-things (IoT) and various sensors. A significant amount of solid wastes are generated throughout the agricultural practices. The waste within the system can be precious resource provided an effective waste-to-resource loop is present. The scheduled waste collection system is cost ineffective and not optimum. In smart cities, the sensor-based networks have been used to monitor the waste load in a container and the route of the waste collector to improve the collection efficiency. However, the integration of smart waste management in the SA is still limited. IoT and sensors can improve the waste management loop through the optimisation of waste collection, transportation and utilisation for resource recovery. This review aims to provide an overview of the role of the effective waste-to-resource loop within a smart agricultural system. This could present a better insight on the important elements in defining the role of smart waste management in SA.