Semtech's LoRa® Devices Boost Crop Yield on Connected Avocado Farms

Semtech Corporation (Nasdaq: SMTC), a leading supplier of high performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms, announced that ICT International, an Internet of Things (IoT) solution provider for environmental applications, and Definium Technologies (Definium), a developer and manufacturer of IoT gateways and devices, are leveraging an advanced array of products based on Semtech’s LoRa® devices and the LoRaWAN® protocol to improve crop yield in Australian avocado plantations with a data-centric approach to farming.

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Definium deploys Semtech's LoRa devices in avocado farms. (Graphic: Business Wire)

“Avocado crops are highly susceptible to stress at key times throughout their growing cycle,” said Dr. Peter Cull, Director of ICT International. “Utilizing plant physiology sensors based on Semtech’s leading and proven LoRa devices enables the simple and accurate monitoring of moisture flow inside the plants, and allows farmers to respond quickly to stressors to improve yield. As a result, farmers maximize profit while reducing expenses related to product waste.”

“As the challenge of extracting high yields from crop farming continues to increase due to changing weather conditions, accurately monitoring environmental crop stress is crucial to ensuring we produce enough food to feed the world,” said Mike Cruse, CEO at Definium Technologies. “Our collaboration with ICT International and Semtech to deliver precision environmental sensing solutions has broad applicability across the agricultural spectrum. These applications include grazing, row cropping, viticulture, and nut orchards, in addition to smart cities and mining.”

ICT International and Definium deployed a suite of LoRa-enabled sensors throughout a large-scale avocado farm in New South Wales, Australia to identify the ongoing causes of low crop yield. Through the use of soil moisture sensors, sap flow sensors, vapor-pressure deficit sensors, and weather stations, the data accurately identified periods of low soil moisture and high plant water stress, and matched those to excess fruit drop. Smart agriculture applications are a proven vertical market for LoRa devices, which offer farmers and ranchers several advantages, including up to 30 miles of network coverage from a single LoRaWAN gateway in rural areas. Farmers across Australia are currently in the process of integrating ICT International and Definium’s LoRa-based sensors into their own smart irrigation systems to better address and respond to crop stress and significantly increase yield.

“From measuring environmental conditions influencing crop production to tracking livestock health, smart agriculture applications based on LoRa devices offer a leading flexibility and ease of use for farmers to quickly reduce environmental impact, maximize yield and minimize expenses,” said Marc Pegulu, Vice President of IoT Product Marketing for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “Commercial and independent farms alike are increasingly turning to LoRaWAN connectivity, leveraging its flexible and proven capabilities to help create smarter and more sustainable operations.”

To learn more about LoRa, visit the Semtech website.

About Semtech’s LoRa® Devices

Semtech’s LoRa devices are widely adopted long-range, low-power solutions for IoT that gives telecom companies, IoT application makers and system integrators the feature set necessary to deploy low-cost, interoperable IoT networks, gateways, sensors, module products, and IoT services worldwide. IoT networks based on the LoRaWAN® specification have been deployed in 100 countries and Semtech is a founding member of the LoRa Alliance®, the fastest growing IoT alliance for low power wide area network applications. To learn more about how LoRa enables IoT, visit Semtech’s LoRa site.

About ICT International

ICT International has been providing sensors and instrumentation to agriculture, horticulture (macadamia, almond, sandalwood, grape, mango, avocado, and sugar cane crops) and environment sectors for both commercial and research applications for 40 years and to over 50 countries each year. ICT International’s instruments are manufactured in Armidale, regional NSW Australia, and have been installed to measure plant water-use by leading scientists in a range of very harsh environments as well as the world’s tallest trees. To learn more, visit http://www.ictinternational.com/.

About Definium Technologies

Definium Technologies specializes in solving real-world problems with bespoke and specialist hardware and software solutions. Definium has created a suite of IoT sensors and general-purpose devices using cutting-edge technology to solve domain-specific problems in a wide range of industries. Definium is based in Launceston, Tasmania, where it designs and manufactures its IoT sensors in-house. To learn more, visit https://www.definium.net/.

About Semtech

Semtech Corporation is a leading supplier of high performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms for infrastructure, high-end consumer and industrial equipment. Products are designed to benefit the engineering community as well as the global community. The Company is dedicated to reducing the impact it, and its products, have on the environment. Internal green programs seek to reduce waste through material and manufacturing control, use of green technology and designing for resource reduction. Publicly traded since 1967, Semtech is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol SMTC. For more information, visit http://www.semtech.com.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

All statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact, including statements that use the words “designed to” or other similar words or expressions, that describe Semtech Corporation’s or its management’s future plans, objectives or goals are “forward-looking statements” and are made pursuant to the Safe-Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results of Semtech Corporation to be materially different from the historical results and/or from any future results or outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors are further addressed in Semtech Corporation’s annual and quarterly reports, and in other documents or reports, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov) including, without limitation, information under the captions “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors.” Semtech Corporation assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release, except as required by law.

Semtech, the Semtech logo and LoRa are registered trademarks or service marks of Semtech Corporation or its affiliates.

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