food supply and to the environment, the FAO has declared Sustainable
Crop Production Intensification (or SCPI)
as their first strategic objective. Sustainable intensification has been defined
as producing more from the same area
of land while reducing negative environmental impacts.
All aspects of the environment – soil,
weather, vegetation, water – vary from
place to place. And all these factors determine crop growth and farming success. Farmers have always been aware
of this, but they lacked the tools to
measure, map and manage these variations precisely.
Innovative tools and techniques that
empower farmers are therefore needed
to do just that!
Thus, Precision Farming can make a difference to food production facing the
challenge of a rising world population
and can help farmers to achieve:
Precision Farming – producing
more with less
For more than 10,000 years people
have cultivated crops using trial and error, received wisdom and how the soil
feels when they rub it between their
fingers. Only recently in history, mechanisation revolutionised the countryside
with machinery and replaced horses
with tractors.
Nowadays, we’re witnessing a new
farming revolution triggered by the
adoption of staggering new technologies: satellites, high precision positioning systems, smart sensors and a
range of IT applications combined with
high-tech engineering.
What is Precision Farming all about?
Precision Farming is about managing
variations in the field accurately
to grow more food using fewer resources and reducing production costs.
Greater sustainability and environmental protection
Higher productivity
Economic benefits
Precision Farming techniques in the
crop growth cycle
In the past 10 years, Precision Farming has moved from good science to
good practice - and has witnessed unprecedented growth around the
globe: 70 to 80% of new farm equipment sold today has some form of Precision Farming component inside.
Thanks to cost-effective monitors and
controllers and the integration into single data management systems, Precision Farming is becoming more seamless, cost-effective and easier for farmers to install and use.
Precision Farming innovations are present in the 4 steps of the crop growth
cycle:
Crop Growth Cycle
Precision Farming: key technologies & concepts
If you want a detailed list of the most
common technologies applied
to Precision Farming practices, take a
look at the following explanatory items:
High precision positioning systems
(like GPS) are the key technology to
achieve accuracy when driving in the
field, providing navigation and positioning capability anywhere on
earth, anytime under any all conditions. The systems record the position of the field using geographic
coordinates (latitude and longitude)
and locate and navigate agricultural
vehicles within a field with 2cm accuracy.
Automated steering systems: enable
to take over specific driving tasks
like auto-steering, overhead turning,
following field edges and overlapping of rows. These technologies reduce human error and are the key to
effective site management:
Assisted steering systems show drivers the way to follow in the field
with the help of satellite navigation
systems such as GPS. This allows
more accurate driving but the
farmer still needs to steer the wheel.
Automated steering systems, take
full control of the steering wheel allowing the driver to take the hands
off the wheel during trips down the
row and the ability to keep an eye
on the planter, sprayer or other
equipment.