ABSTRACT
Tomatoes are sly and fragile creatures. They may look happy, healthy, and headed to ripe red, but their insides can be telling an entirely different story if they have sat through too much cooling in the night. In agriculture, cost is often a major barrier to adopting any new technology, especially for small- to medium-sized farms. Thus, smart and cost-conscious solutions are the only solutions that are likely to enable the Internet of Things to expand in agriculture and thrive in the world of tomatoes. A stunning, ripe, robust, red tomato may be headed for the catsup bottle if it lacks the flavor that consumers expect from fresh tomatoes. This is the problem that initially drew Analog Devices into investing in New England tomato crops. Tomato plants that are too wet too often are vulnerable to white blight mold and bug infestations, which can destroy entire crops.
