New Podcast: The Future of Farming: Smart Tractors and Automation
Listen to Praveen Penmetsa explain the latest innovations in smart tractors and AgTech. As CEO and co-founder at Monarch Tractor, Penmetsa is pushing the boundaries of agriculture technology, regulations, labor, and sustainability while going head-to-head with some of the biggest global brands.
Image credit: Monarch Tractor/Praveen Penmetsa
In our new podcast episode, the IoT Integrator Wire editors talk with Praveen Penmetsa, CEO and Co-founder at Monarch Tractor based in Livermore, CA. Penmetsa puts us in the driver’s seat of the world’s first fully electric, driver-optional, smart tractor, which uses a trifecta of electrification, automation, and data analysis tools.
At 147 inches long, Monarch tractors collect and analyze visual and digitized data from the field to accomplish a variety of tasks, including:
- Identify water stress
- Apply sprays with more precision
- Keep workers safe during extreme weather events, including heat, wildfire smoke, and pesticides
- Provide root-to-fruit visibility
- Analyze moisture levels
- Assess pest pressure.
Image credit: Monarch Tractor
Unlike its AgTech competitors, Monarch sets an unexpected price point at $58,000, much less than a similar John Deere version at $500,000 and diesel-powered tractors that range from $60,000 to $75,000. Penmetsa explains why his company’s 360-degree camera surveillance system can process 240 gigabytes (GB) of crop data every operating day at lower costs with more efficiency.
Penmetsa is an experienced CEO and an expert in building teams that develop and scale the next generation of robotic solutions for mobility, food, and automation. In his current venture, he hopes smart technology on a fully electric tractor platform will lead to digital transformation, innovation, and sustainability in farming.
- Listen to the IoT Integrator Wire podcast with Praveen Penmetsa, CEO and Co-founder at Monarch Tractor.
- Get insights from solution integrators and other experts who are building IoT market-ready solutions in the connected world, subscribe to the IoT Integrator Wire podcast.
- Find out more about the Monarch Tractor December 2022 launch event announcing the production of the Founder Series MK-V electric, driver-optional smart tractor.
- Learn more about Monarch Tractor.
- See all the technology in the self-driving Monarch electric tractor, read the IoT Integrator article, “Autonomous Smart Tractor from Monarch Takes Flight.”