# State-of-the-Art Internet of Things in Protected Agriculture
## 5 Disscussion
### Other Challenges  
There are other challenges that need to be addressed, which are related to the further application of IoT technology in protected agriculture. Thousands of devices which have huge differences in processor, memory, communication protocol and programming language are deployed in protected agriculture, which inevitably results in heterogeneity issues. Besides, most of devices in protected agriculture are connected to the cloud or others by the non-standard heterogeneous interfaces [14; 22]. This has led to problems of both device heterogeneity and data heterogeneity. The device heterogeneity problem affects the scalability of IoT in protected agriculture and the data heterogeneity problem hinders the use of fusion information by models [145]. Although many research institutes, hardware and software manufacturers and related organizations have made a lot of contributions to the standardization and deployment of IoT in agriculture, it still needs to establish a complete and clear structure, protocols and standards to connect various heterogeneous devices and services [146; 147].  
The cost has always been a barrier to the large-scale application of IoT to ordinary farmers, especially in developing countries like China and India. Despite a large number of embedded devices and platforms have emerged and the cost of hardware and software is rapidly decreasing, but here is another situation in high-quality and high-precision sensors and devices. Moreover, some funds are needed to train farmers to become proficient in the use of IoT equipment. In order to be able today a better role in the future, the cost of sensing, transmission, analysis and application components and equipment on the IoT need to further reduce in order to lower the price and make it more affordable in the next decade [148]. Government departments should recognize the significant potential for the development of IoT in protected agriculture and increase investment and support through policies and funds to attract more capital and achieve rapid development and application.  
In addition, the usability of the terminal device needs to be further improved, for example, the user interface needs to be friendlier andthe device needs to be more convenient in size and easy to carry.  
IoT brings many benefits to ecological environment and brings some problems.. More and more equipment is being placed in agriculture andso the issues of environmental friendliness should receive some attention in the future. As the e-waste generated by IoT devices and the consumption of energy are gradually increasing, the sustainable development of the ecological environment is also one common concern. Examples of interesting research topics include the use of degradable materials and renewable energy sources, the reduction of equipment size and the use of energy-saving algorithms and new green ICT technology [149; 150].  
The application of the Internet of Things in facility agriculture needs to consider the socio-economic consequences. On the one hand, it increases the level of intelligence in agricultural monitoring, control and decision-making, thereby increasing the efficiency and quality of agricultural production. At the same time, it will also change the demand for the existing agricultural workforce, causing some people who are engaged in simple repetitive tasks to lose their jobs, which will cause a series of social problems.