Building a Farmer's Platform App: Leveraging React, Axios, and OpenWeather API for Agriculture

As an aspiring software developer, I recently completed a university project where I had the opportunity to develop a prototype of a Farmers Platform app. This app provides farmers with crop-specific weather information, downloadable manuals, and access to a blog section. In this post, I will share my experience working with React, Axios, and the OpenWeather API to build this powerful tool.

Building the Foundation with React

To create a dynamic and responsive front-end, I chose to use the React JavaScript library. React enabled me to build reusable components and efficiently manage the app's state. This allowed me to focus on functionality and user experience without worrying about complex DOM manipulations. Throughout the development process, I employed React hooks such as useState, useEffect, and useMemo to ensure optimal performance and state management.

Fetching Weather Data with Axios and the OpenWeather API

To provide accurate, real-time weather data to farmers, I utilized the OpenWeather API in conjunction with Axios, a popular promise-based HTTP client for JavaScript. By incorporating these technologies, I was able to make API calls and fetch the required weather data, including current temperature, humidity, and wind speed, as well as a 7-day forecast.

The app takes the user's latitude and longitude as input and sends a request to the OpenWeather API using Axios. The API response is then processed, and the relevant data is stored in the app's state using React's useState hook.

Data-Driven Insights for Farmers

With the weather data in hand, I developed a feature to compare the current and forecasted conditions against ideal conditions for specific crops, such as wheat. By using the useEffect hook, I monitored the state changes of weather variables and provided visual alerts to users based on the comparison results. This feature empowers farmers with actionable insights, helping them make informed decisions about their crop management.

The Final Product

By combining React, Axios, and the OpenWeather API, I was able to create a powerful Farmers Platform app that delivers crop-specific weather information and resources to farmers. This project allowed me to sharpen my skills as a developer and demonstrate my ability to work independently and collaborate with a team. As a result, I am confident in showcasing this project to potential recruiters and future employers as part of my personal portfolio.

• 🔗 GitHub repository: https://github.com/peterpapas/farmers-platform-app

• 🔗 Live version: https://stellular-bienenstitch-6d9fa7.netlify.app