Soil Monitoring System Market

Market Overview

The global soil monitoring system market size was valued at USD 610 million in 2021. It is projected to reach USD 1,115 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period (2022–2030). 

Soil monitoring systems are devices that read & store data, analyze the soil, and send data to computers via a transmitter. The data from soil monitoring help us figure out how the soil is doing, which helps us make decisions. It is often used in farming. Sensors that measure the soil's condition allow farmers to keep track of changes in temperature, rainfall, and other factors over time. This lets them track trends and predict when irrigation will be needed.

Using monitoring systems to measure soil parameters before planting, energy costs and water use can be cut while yielding increases. The soil monitoring systems could have benefits like making it easier to control growth rates, quality, efficiency, and the number of diseases, as well as keeping track of how much it costs to manage irrigation. There are many ways to use these systems in farming, golf courses, research labs, and urban farming communities. The rising popularity of precision agriculture and fertility management services and the growing need to improve farm productivity to feed a large and growing population drive the market.

Market Dynamics

Global Soil Monitoring System Market Drivers

Need to Enhance Farm Productivity to Feed Extensively Rising Population

The soil monitoring systems are very popular among progressive farmers across the US, Canada, Israel, the Netherlands, Australia, and China. Over-irrigation of the farm field can result in the development of a shallow root pattern which may affect the nutrients in the soil as well as the quality and yield of the crop. Consequently, soil monitoring is broadly being adopted among farmers in irrigation to help achieve maximum yields and optimum crop quality.

Additionally, soil monitoring has become crucial as the global population is increasing rapidly, leading to food shortages in over-populous countries. Therefore, the farming communities in such countries are under extreme pressure to increase their agricultural output in different ways to tackle the danger to food security for future generations. Irrigation or water management techniques, such as adopting soil moisture sensors to monitor the water level in soil, help to increase yields and improve crop quality. Also, it enables farming to be more profitable and assists in conserving water and energy.

Availability of Technologically Advanced Soil Monitoring Systems at Affordable Prices

Although several commercial soil monitoring systems are expensive for small users, researchers and market players have developed cost-effective monitoring systems by integrating Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. For instance, in India, the researchers at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in collaboration with IIT Bombay, developed a low-cost and low-power soil moisture sensor that can accurately determine the water content of the soil.

Furthermore, the leading market players are introducing technologically advanced soil monitoring solutions with affordable prices to countries in developing nations. For instance, Sensoterra, one of the leaders in wireless soil moisture sensors, partnered with National Narrowband Network Co. (NNNCo), Australia's leading IoT Enterprise provider, to empower agricultural organizations, farmers, and councils in Asia-Pacific to make data-driven land management decisions as well as reduce the water consumption by up to 30%. Hence, the availability of such cost-effective soil monitoring systems drives market growth.

Global Soil Monitoring System Market Restraint

Lack of Awareness about Soil Monitoring Systems

Lack of awareness regarding soil monitoring among people is one of the major factors hindering market growth to some degree during the forecast period. The end-users from different fields, such as landscaping, agriculture, residential, and sports turf, are not entirely aware of the benefits of the soil monitoring system. Currently, only a limited number of farms are equipped with soil monitoring sensors due to the dominance of alternative approaches like visual judgment and manual inspection. However, the results from these techniques are rarely accurate. The limited options to support soil monitoring sensors, devices, equipment, and solutions also hinder the market growth.

Global Soil Monitoring System Market Opportunities

The Emergence of Advanced Technologies like Data Analytics and IoT in Soil Monitoring

The adoption of IoT in agriculture is known as smart agriculture and is a central component of precision farming. The emergence of IoT in soil monitoring uses technology to empower producers and farmers to maximize yield and optimize resources. Recent market trends include using IoT sensors to measure soil temperature, photosynthetic radiation, volumetric water content, soil oxygen levels, and soil water potential. Data from the IoT sensors is transmitted to a central point (or the cloud) for visualization, analysis, and trend analysis. Hence, the emergence of IoT and its use of data analytics provide lucrative opportunities for market growth. It will enable farmers to identify trends, optimize farming operations, and make subtle adjustments to maximize crop quality and yield.

Regional Analysis

Region-wise, the global soil monitoring system market is analyzed across Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

Which Region Accounts for Most Demand for Soil Monitoring System?

North America is the dominant region and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period. This is attributed to the development of advanced technologies, relatively higher awareness among growers, and the support of organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Nature Conservancy, and the National Research Council. Also, the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provides enormous growth opportunities by promoting economic activities in North America, thereby increasing its competitiveness on a global level. Continuous efforts toward the promotion of measures for environmental protection, including educating farmers on soil management methods that reduce their carbon footprint, more efficiently use water supply, and promising land-use practices that protect water quality, are further anticipated to boost the soil monitoring market in North America.

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region and is projected to reach USD 315 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8%. The heavy dependence on the agricultural industry and the availability of low-priced agrarian products from China are the major factors fueling the expanding applications of soil monitoring in the region. In addition, the increasing preference of farmers for mobile soil testing laboratories is expected to surge the number of such laboratories, fueling the sale of soil testing machines during the forecast period. Moreover, the growing demand to produce enough food for the rapidly growing population in this region has fueled the need for farmers to boost their food production. This factor provides numerous growth opportunities for the market growth during the forecast period in Asia-Pacific.

Europe is the third-largest region. The factors such as the export-based agriculture sector, massive demand for high-quality food, and highly mechanized agriculture encourage farmers in the Europe region to opt for soil treatment products to maintain soil conditions. In addition, the massive adoption of precision agriculture techniques in crop & soil management in this region and the need for enhancement in the quality of soil fuels the market demand. On the contrary, the countries such as Germany and Italy are expected to effectively increase the adoption of soil monitoring products in their fields, which is opportunistic for the market. Besides its adoption in agriculture, the construction sector, and weather forecasting, the soil monitoring tools and products have witnessed extensive applications among other industries such as Watershed technology measures, Mining, and Forestry in Europe.

Segmental Analysis

The global soil monitoring system market is segmented by component, connectivity, application, and region. 

By Components

Based on components, the global soil monitoring system market is bifurcated into Hardware, Software, and Service.

The Hardware segment dominates the market and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7% during the forecast period. The extensive adoption of hardware equipment in predicting soil properties such as humidity, temperature, and moisture in both wireless and manual soil monitoring systems drives the growth of this segment. There is increasing use of soil sensors, weather stations, soil scanners, and other devices for soil monitoring by the farmers. Progressive farmers worldwide have experienced numerous benefits of soil monitoring technology, which has increased the adoption of soil monitoring devices and sensors. Furthermore, the adoption of precision farming and the deployment of yield monitoring devices, along with the high usage of GNSS/GPS devices for field mapping, farm planning, and soil sampling, fuels the market growth of this segment.

The Service segment is the fastest growing. Over the past few decades, there has been an extensive adoption of services among end-users, as it ensures the effective functioning of soil monitoring software and hardware throughout the process. Furthermore, soil monitoring systems with IoT will likely create lucrative opportunities for adopting professional and managed services, optimizing performance, simplifying farming operations, and reducing IT costs. This will fuel the demand for managed services during the forecast period.

By Connectivity

Based on connectivity, the global soil monitoring system market is segmented into Wired and Wireless.

The Wired segment is the highest contributor to the market and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period. These types of soil monitoring systems are expected to witness extensive growth in adoption owing to the surge in the application of several wired soil monitoring sensors in progressive farmers across the globe. The adoption of wired monitoring is mainly driven by the fact that it does not require strong and sophisticated technical know-how in soil monitoring. However, a few problems are associated with this product, such as labor cost, maintenance cost, and inflexibility concerning remote accessibility. On the contrary, they are ideal for experiments across courses including horticulture, botany, biology, agricultural science, and environmental science.

The Wireless segment is the fastest growing. The rapidly growing demand for remote sensing technologies in precision agriculture (PA) fuels the increase in the adoption of wireless systems for soil monitoring. Remote sensing is popularly being adopted for various PA applications, including crop monitoring, nutrient application, irrigation management, disease & pest management, and yield prediction during the past few years. In addition, wireless systems adoption is relatively high in the countries such as the U.S. and Canada, where the region holds a significant market share. Moreover, the technological advancements in wireless systems have resulted in the broader adoption of soil monitoring sensors, devices, and software. 

By Application

Based on application, the global soil monitoring system is divided into Agriculture, Archaeology, Research, and Construction & Mining.

The Agriculture segment is the highest contributor to the market and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period. The irrigation of crops represents about 90% of the water used across the globe. Hence, there is enormous demand for monitoring soil moisture in agriculture where the moisture sensors in the root zone of crops will optimize irrigation. In addition, the adoption of soil monitoring in agriculture is driven by various benefits provided by optimized irrigation scheduling, such as increasing crop yields, saving water, saving energy costs, saving on fertilizer costs, protecting local water resources from runoff, and increasing the farmer profitability. Furthermore, the emergence of Agriculture IoT provides lucrative opportunities for adopting soil monitoring in the agriculture sector. 

The Construction & Mining segment is the fastest growing. The growing demand for construction projects to assess soil suitability for informed decision-making and planning fuels the market. On the other hand, soil moisture monitoring in the mining industry is vital as the resident life and crop growth in the mining area may be seriously affected by the uneven soil moisture distribution due to mining. Hence, the need to evaluate the spatial distribution of the soil moisture in the mining subsidence area with high water levels drives the adoption of soil monitoring solutions in the mining industry.

Recent Developments

• June 2022 - CropX, a global pioneer in digital farm management, expanded its system to incorporate a novel disease management capability that can result in lower chemical use while safeguarding crop yields. The CropX farm management system monitors important fungal diseases on over 320 crop and fungal disease combinations and provides spraying recommendations. This new feature incorporates Dacom Farm Intelligence's 20 years of agronomic research and knowledge, which CropX bought in 2021.
• April 2022 - Aliaxis, a global leader in providing access to water and energy through innovative fluid management solutions, signed an investment contract with CropX, a global leader in ag-tech solutions for total farm management, and will be working together with them.