What are RFID tags?

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an item-tagging technology that has been used successfully across industries, most notably in retail, inventory management and supply chain. RFID tags are tiny computer chips connected to miniature antennas that can be fixed to physical objects. This microchip contains an Electronic Product Code (EPC) with sufficient storage capacity to provide unique identifiers for the items it is tagged onto.

A sensor network which runs on wireless technology is used for monitoring of farm animals on which the RFID tags are attached. An RFID reader that emits a radio signal is used to read the data captured in the chip. This data can be stored and analysed for various applications. The major parts of the farm livestock monitoring system are monitoring centre, monitoring nodes and a base station.

Utility of RFID tags for livestock monitoring

RFID technology has found a great utility in livestock management practices in the recent years. It is being extensively used in areas like monitoring cattle health, preventing theft and pilferage, tracking breeding and nutrition details and easy settling of cattle insurance claims. This integrated system of tracking useful data about animals comes with a dual advantage of lowered labour costs due to automation and higher profits owing to optimization of animal productivity, health and welfare.

The primary concern of animal breeders is the health and nutrition of the livestock which is the key driver for the yields. RFID has simplified the process by easy monitoring of health and food habits by recording data like Calving data, Vaccination data, Hormones, weight gain, weight reduction, prescriptions etc. farmers can take important decisions like changing the nutrition mix according to their needs.

An RFID tag is an intelligent device embedded with a microchip that comes with a storage capacity of 4kB. The data stored is transmitted via Bluetooth or other wireless protocol to a mobile device. This data can be fed to many key animal management software packages that can further analysis for the better productivity of animals. For e.g. complete history of a particular cattle across generations stored in RFID can be used for selective breeding that results into a high yielding variety of cattle.

FocusAgritech’s Outlook

RFID tag solutions can help in animal tracking, animal husbandry information for livestock animals like Cattle, Sheep, Goats, Pigs, cow, buffalo, and various other too. This product meets all international standards of animal identification (ISO 11784/ ISO 11785). These ear tags can also be used for slaughterhouse management, hatchery, poultry farms, and local animal farms. These RFID tags are definitely a beneficial solution in animal identification, animal breeding and slaughter management.

The Indian government is taking concrete steps to join the technological revolution in the animal husbandry sector. National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has launched the Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health (INAPH) program which is an ambitious program of the government to implant microchips for cattle identification to prevent the stray animal menace and also check insurance frauds. 

Insurance firms like HDFC Ergo and the Institute of Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Trust are using RFID tags technology to redefine the cattle insurance industry. This technology has cut down the time to claim settlement from 30 days to one day. We believe this technology is a must to invest in given the huge potential in multiple industries.

There is still a long way to go for incorporating these technologies into the Indian animal husbandry and dairying sector, because of multiple factors and limitations. However, steps are being taken in the right direction and the sector is getting more organised year after year.

Companies to Watch: Yash Seals, Sky RFID, ID Tech, HID, Cattle Max, Omnia Tags

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