How is Precision Agriculture Transforming Sustainable Farming?

According to a study in 2021, precision farming technologies have increased crop production by 4%. 

Not just that!

Precision farming methods have reduced fertilizer usage by 7% & herbicide application by 9%. Moreover, it has saved water consumption by 4% & reduced the usage of fossil fuel by 6%.

Want to learn how?

But, for that, you need to understand how precision agriculture works, the technologies, use cases, and pros & cons. So, stay hooked to this article to know about all these. 

What is Precision Agriculture?

This agricultural practice is a bit different. The concept of farming is based on the digital management of the farm. Additionally, the farmers rely heavily on the latest technologies to observe, measure, and respond to the production of the farmed crops. 

Precision farming practitioners consider several environmental aspects like soil, weather, & crop growth. Also, the agricultural system collects data for crop management and environmental protection.

How Does Precision Agriculture Work?

Precision farming depends on the usage of specialized farming equipment. Specifically, software systems, Information technology services, GPS, etc. help crop producers to track real-time data. 

Additionally, they track the soil and air conditions as well as some weather aspects to determine how much labor cost and input they should invest. 

The History of Precision Agriculture

This agricultural practice evolved as a part of the third wave of modern farming revolutions. From 1900 to 1930, the evolution of the first mechanized agricultural practice took place. However, it was a major revolution as the farmers could produce enough crops to feed 26 people. 

Specifically, in the 1960s, the Green Revolution took place. As a result, the genetic modification of the seeds produced enough crops to feed around 156 people. 

But, the estimated population by the year 2050 will be around 9.6 billion across the world. To provide such a huge population with enough food crops, each farmer needs to produce food on a large scale. 

To be specific, they must grow food crops that can feed 265 people in a one-acre area. With this, comes the importance of precision agricultural practices promising more crop yield within limited areas and limited resources.

13 Latest Tools & Technologies for Precision Agriculture

Precision farming refers to practicing smart farming technologies catering to the individual needs of the crops. Moreover, the advanced technologies track several input aspects and aid in crop production while reducing environmental impact. Now, let’s check out the technologies invented by researchers to practice precision farming.

GPS

The Global Positioning System is a ground-based technology. It helps the producers to collect and track data with accurate locations in real-time. Now comes the functions of this system. It can map out the irrigation systems, roads, and fields. 

Also, the producers can detect the problem plants, test the soil quality, and spread seeds or fertilizers through driverless machinery. As you can see, GPS trackers can play a crucial role in precision agriculture.

GIS

The Geographic Information Systems operates with real-time data tracking, location access, and mapping. With this, the crop producers can divide a particular land area depending on the soil type, moisture or pH content, and pest infestation. Moreover, the satellite and aerial images help them to manage the farm in a better way through comparison and manipulation. 

Grid Sampling

The producers use this technique to segment the land area into 0.5 to 5 ha-sized units. This is an excellent method to collect soil samples from the different parts of the field. Specifically, the technique is helpful in analyzing the pH & nutrient content, & presence of organic matter to determine the accurate requirements for fertilization or irrigation. 

Micro Irrigation

This advanced drip irrigation system helps the producers plan the field’s irrigation depending on the moisture content in the soil. Additionally, the Variable Rate Irrigation system determines the volume of water supply on different parts of the land. Both these systems ensure the practice of effective precision agriculture. 

SSCM

The Site-Specific Crop Management systems help the crop producers monitor, count, and react to the diverse farmed crops. Generally, the latest SSCM systems use accurate global positioning to track spatial changing land conditions.  

Also, the EOSDA crop monitoring helps the crop growers to manage the farming zones. Moreover, it helps them to identify the problem areas like pest infestation, fungus & weed growth, and lack of moisture. Based on the reports, the farmers can adjust the application of fertilizers for effective precision agriculture.

VRT

The Variable Rate Technology helps the producers to apply specific amounts of chemicals, fertilizers, and seeds on the field. However, the precision lies in the application of these components in required amounts only. 

Also, the farmers track the soil components like Nitrogen. The map-based systems fix the number of applied fertilizers and others based on the previously generated area map. However, the sensor-based systems track the soil components with sensors in real time. 

Yield Monitors & Maps

The yield maps display the environmental aspects like landscapes, weather aspects, and earth for better crop harvesting. 

Remote Sensors

These sensors collect information like soil moisture and crop health through satellite photos. Also, they can reduce crop waste and help the producers to strategize farming techniques.

Auto-Guidance Systems

These systems use GPS & sensors and help the crop producers navigate the vehicles and the farming equipment. Also, they can correct the rows, bring accuracy to crop production results, and control or position the farming equipment. Additionally, the producers can track and record these data for analysis & fruitful precision agriculture. 

Proximate & Satellite Sensors

These can track the changes in soil type, road and water boundaries, and crop development. Moreover, the proximity sensors can measure the Nitrogen & pH content in the soil. 

UAVs & Dusters

These technologies allow the crop producers to track the crop health through satellite images. Also, they can track moisture levels, and detect diseased crops or structural anomalies. However, the dusters help the farmers to water and sow the crops. 

Using drones is an alternative solution to track the thermal, multispectral, and hyperspectral aspects of the soil with less fuel investment and better control.

IoT, AI & ML

The Internet of Things devices like sensors and smart machines like tractors can help producers streamline the crop management system. Additionally, these AI-powered devices can increase the crop production rate with high profits. 

Moreover, farmers these days can optimize environmental resources, prevent crop diseases, and manage the farm strategically with these devices. Also, the Machine Learning systems can modify the water supply and nutrition management. 

Computer Software & Hardware

The producers use device software and hardware to analyze the collected data. Also, they can convert the information into accessible formats like charts, pies, graphs, maps, and detailed reports.

However, the conduction of these technological processes depends heavily on financial, inventory, and labor management. Depending on the combination of these aspects, the producers modify their agricultural plans for better production.

5 Practical Use Cases of Precision Agriculture

Now that you know about the latest technologies, it is time to learn about the practical use cases.

1. The drones designed with cameras can provide the farmers with high-resolution maps to track crop health & identify farming issues.
2. With mobile applications, you can not only track the soil, moisture, & fertility content but also, manage crop production, irrigation, & fertilization.  
3. The producers track hyper-local weather changes to adjust the watering and fertilizer supply needs.  
4. The GPS trackers monitor the location and workers’ activities for efficient task management. 
5. Precision agricultural technologies can track equipment usage and help farmers form maintenance strategies. 

4 Benefits of Precision Agriculture

1. Precision farming practices can significantly boost crop production while limiting the nutrient and crop inputs.
2. The practice involves limited use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers to specific parts of the lands at the required time. 
3. Remote farming management devices reduce fuel consumption & the use of other machinery. It also reduces the farming costs. 
4. The GPS trackers can effectively track various farming aspects like soil components, crop health, etc. In turn, the farmers can modify their farming techniques depending on their specific farming needs.

3 Challenges of Precision Agriculture

1. Advanced tech devices can generate a lot of data that might be overwhelming for the farmers. However, they need to analyze them for optimum farming results.
2. The producers might face challenges in finding skilled laborers with technical knowledge. 
3. Some technologies might be subject to government restrictions. So, you need to learn about the regulations first before implementing the method.

The Digitalised Sustainability Associated with Precision Agriculture

The rapid digitalization of the world has successfully revolutionized the agricultural sector. According to a report by the United States, by the year 2025, 60% of the global population will rely on agriculture for food consumption. 

However, the traditional intensive agricultural method results in greenhouse gas emissions, rise in climatic temperature, and extreme weather conditions. 

Precision agricultural practices focus on improved crop yield in a sustainable way. Also, it emphasizes the reduction of negative impacts on the environment and limited resource usage.

The producers collect farming-related data from a lot of sources using several GPS, mapping systems, remote sensors, etc. After that, they store them in computers or cloud-based systems for further analysis. 

Generally, the producers analyze the data with visualization tools like statistical software or spreadsheets. Then, they analyze the farming patterns & interpret the estimated results.

So, precision farming is a great sustainable agricultural practice with technological assistance and specific usage of farming inputs. 

How Does Precision Agriculture Affect The Future Climate?

According to the National Academy of Science, by 2050, severe weather and climatic changes can diminish crop production by 17%. However, precision farming is one such harvesting method that can increase crop production by 10-15% within 2030. 

This modern farming practice provides the farmers with accurate tracking results of the crop, soil, water consumption & much more. Also, it can reduce the emission of greenhouse gases & use of natural resources by up to 20%.

So, we can hope that with devices like IoT devices, robots, drones, and SaaS systems, farmers can produce more crops. Additionally, there will be limited compromise on the environmental impact of these farming techniques. 

Frequently Asked Questions