Press Release from Taoyuan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, Ministry of Agriculture
Instant Field Management Made Easy with LINE Messaging
November 21, 2023
To respond to climate change and the aging agricultural population, as well as to ensure that production and quality are not affected by pests, diseases, and climate, advanced agriculture is gradually moving towards the development of facility environmental control cultivation. The application of smart sensing and control to achieve precise, labor-saving, and efficient management is a developing trend. For this reason, Taoyuan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station (hereinafter TYDARES) has developed an instant monitoring information system for agricultural production management. Through the internet, the cultivation environment is automatically monitored for remote automatic management, achieving labor savings and efficiency improvements. At the same time, to allow farmers to keep track of field management at any time, LINE instant messaging has been integrated in the system. Through Blockly programming, farmers can receive field management operations, alerts, and query environmental monitoring data and control equipment switches via LINE Bot (chatbot).
TYDARES states that instant messaging is widely used in daily life. To allow users to instantly grasp field conditions, the agricultural production management instant monitoring information system set up by TYDARES integrates LINE Bot and LINE Notify (message push notification), combining LINE with sensors and controllers. Using Blockly programming settings, users can operate field equipment and receive alert notifications through LINE. Besides, LINE Notify, through setting a LINE group token, can transmit information such as alerts (e.g., device offline, abnormal high or low temperatures, strong light, and abnormal equipment startups), automatic management (e.g., starting or stopping irrigation, spraying, shading nets, fans, etc.) to a LINE group, helping farmers keep track of field conditions. LINE Bot requires setting up a personal channel and configuring keywords in the block-based settings. Commands issued from a LINE group can retrieve sensor values or toggle equipment. Seniors can use voice input to remotely control devices. Remote monitoring via mobile LINE allows for immediate adjustment of greenhouse environments to manage farm production.
TYDARES points out that smart technology enhances agricultural production, and the digital production model improves the crop cultivation environment, achieving the goals of energy saving, labor saving, and stable production. Integrating LINE with smart cultivation management systems makes operations more user-friendly and convenient, contributing to the popularization of agricultural technology. TYDARES has applied this system to the smart cultivation management technology of facility vegetables, poinsettias, kalanchoe, and orchids, and has promoted it for smart irrigation in school food and agriculture education. The Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station has applied this technology to both papaya, for smart nutrient irrigation, and dragon fruit, for spray cooling. This system not only saves labor but also stabilizes crop yield and quality. The system has been announced for technology transfer and commercialization, and farmers can use the commercialization system for smart cultivation management technology of crops. For inquiries, please contact TYDARES.
Contact Information:
Spokesperson and Deputy Director: Yang-Jen Fu, Tel: 03-4768216 ext. 101, Mobile: 0919872010
Agricultural Extension Section, Chief: Jin-Long Jiang, Tel: 03-4768216 ext. 400
Agricultural Extension Section: Associate Researcher Shing-Jong Lay, Tel: 03-4768216 ext. 410
Fig. 1. LINE Notify and LINE Bot Blockly Programming.
Fig. 2. LINE Bot can toggle the irrigation controller via the internet.
Fig. 3. LINE notification of field sensor data.
Fig. 4. LINE Notifications for Monitoring Equipment Operation and Environmental Surveillance.
Fig. 5. LINE Bot Command to Control Irrigation Equipment On/Off.
