Precision farming

1. PRECISION FARMING

2. Precision Agriculture
 Precision Agriculture refers to the precise application of agriculture inputs
with respect to soil., weather and crop need in order to improve productivity,
quality and profitability in agriculture.
 It is modern agriculture practice involving the use of technology in agriculture
like remote sensing, GPS and GIS( Geographical Information System) .
 It enables farmers to use crop inputs more efficiently including pesticides,
fertilizers, tillage, irrigation water and lot more.
 More effective utilization of inputs will bring in more crop yield and quality
without polluting the environment and will result in sustainable agriculture
and sustainable development.
 Hence precision agriculture is about doing the right thing, in the right place,
in the right way at the right time.

3. Precision Agriculture Cycle

4. Components/Tools in Precision
Agriculture
 Precision agriculture is combination of application of different technologies.
All these combinations are mutually inter related and responsible for
developments.
1. Gobal Positioning System( GPS)
2. Geographic Information System (GIS)
3. Grid sampling
4. Variable Rate Technology( VRT)
5. Yield Maps
6. Remote Sensors (Satellites & Drones)

5. Geographic Positioning System
 GPS (global positioning system) unit uses information from United States
satellites to provide an accurate location almost anywhere on Earth. The
global positioning system (GPS) is a network of satellites and receiving devices
used to determine the location of something on Earth

6. Geographic Information System ( GIS)
 It is a software that imports, exports and process spatially and temporarily
geographically distributed data

7. Grid Sampling
 It is a method of breaking a field into grids of about 0.5-5 hectares. Sampling
soil within the grids is useful to determine the appropriate rate of application
of fertilizers. Several samples are taken from the grids, mixed and sent to the
laboratory for analysis

8. Variable Rate Technology
 Variable Rate Technology (VRT): The existing field machinery with added
Electronic Control Unit(ECU) and GPS can fulfill the variable rate requirement
of input. Spray booms, the spinning disc applicator with ECU and GPS have
been used effectively for patch spraying

9. Remote Sensors ( satellites & Drones)
 Remote Sensing (Satellites & Drones): These are generally categories of aerial
and satellite sensors. They can indicate variations in the colors of the field
that corresponds to changes in soil type and crop development. Arial and
satellite imagery can be processed to provide vegetative indices, which
reflects the health of the plant

11. Advantages
 It will enhance agricultural productivity and prevent soil degradation in
cultivable land resulting in sustained agricultural development

 2)It will reduce excessive chemical usage in crop production

 3) Water resources will be utilized efficiently under the precision farming

 4)GPS allows agricultural fields to be survived with ease. Moreover, the
yield and soil characteristics can also be mapped

 5)Non-uniform fields can be sub- divided into small plots based on their
unique requirements

12. Disadvantages
 1)High capital costs may discourage farmers to not adopt this method of
farming

 2)Precision agriculture techniques are still under development and
requires expert advice before actual implementation

 3)It may take several years to collect the sufficient data to fully implement
the system

 4)It is an extremely difficult task particularly the collection and analysis
the data

13. Precision Farming in Indian Agriculture

14. Scope of adoption of Precision
Agriculture in India
 Presently, India is producing more than 200 Mt of food grain which makes India self-sufficient in food production

 But only quantity cannot meet the need of globalized agricultural market. Excellent quality as well as high productivity
will be the key factor to compete with others, and the huge scope of PA in India

 In production, India holds world-ranks within 10 in most of the crops (wheat- 2nd, rice-2nd, pulses-1st, cotton-4th, etc.)

 However, in the productivity of these crops, the world ranking varies from 32 (wheat) to 118 (Cotton). Poor scale of
mechanization with very small average holding size

 On other side, Studies have already shown that systematic soil testing followed by proper application of NPK fertilizers
can increase the productivity level by

 2-3 times in most of the states of India

15. Present status of Precision agriculture in
India
 The first thing that comes to mind is that, this system is not for developing countries,
especially India, where the farmers are poor, farming is mostly subsistent and the land
holding size is small

 Application of Precision agriculture technologies is presently at the nascent stage in India

 Without integration of Farmers Especially, Small and Marginal Farmers the precision models
will remain Incomplete

 Tata Kisan Kendra : The concept of precision farming being implemented by the TKKS. TCL’s
extension services, brought to farmers through the TKKS, use remote- sensing technology to
analyze soil, inform about crop health, pest attacks and coverage of various crops predicting
the final output. This helps farmers adapt quickly to changing conditions. The result:
healthier crops, higher yields and enhanced incomes for farmers

16.  Tamil Nadu State Government has sanctioned a scheme named “Tamil Nadu Precision Farming
Project” to be implemented in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts covering an area of 400 ha

 This pilot project is undertaken by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and worked with 400
farmers that showed an increase in yield of three to twelve times higher than normal using precision
agriculture techniques

 High value crops such as hybrid tomatoes, capsicum, baby corn, white onion, cabbage, and
cauliflower are proposed to be cultivated under this scheme

 Microsoft and ICRISAT collaborate each other and Introduce Artificial Intelligence(AI) into agriculture
to boost crop yield in Devanakonda, Andhrapradesh. These technology helps in increase yield up to
30-40%

 Project Directorate of Cropping Systems Research, Modipuram, had started working to help the
Indian farmers to harvest the fruits through frontier technologies

17. The policy approach to promote precision d
farming at farm level
 Identify the niche areas for the promotion of crop specific precision farming

 ✓ Creation of multidisciplinary teams involving agricultural scientists in various fields,
engineers, manufacturers and economists to study the overall scope of precision agriculture

 ✓ Provide complete technical backup support to the farmers to develop pilots or models,
which can be replicated on a large scale

 Pilot study should be conducted on farmers’ fields to show the results of precision agriculture
implementation

 Creating awareness among farmers about consequences of applying imbalanced doses of farm
inputs like irrigation, fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides

18. General adoption Strategies
 Keeping in mind about the status of Farmers in India. The Scientists and
research institutes proposed some common adoption strategies for the
application of Precision agriculture in India
ie PA adoption Technologies Target sectors
Single PA technology Single low level PA
technologies, LCC, small
machine-based VRT,
etc.
Small-scale farms
PA technology package SPAD, LCC, GIS, VRT,
GPS, etc. Consolidated plots,
plantation crops, cash
crop, cooperative
farming, etc.

19. Indian Agritech Startups
 FASAL situated in Banglore, Karnataka
 CROPIN TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS PVT LTD situated in Banglore, Karnataka
 INTELLO LABS situated in Gurugram, Haryana

20. Challenges in Adopting Precision Farming
in India
 The Adoption of precision farming in India is yet in nascent stage due its
unique pattern of land holdings, poor infrastructure, lack of farmers
inclination to take risk and socio-economic conditions
 Research suggest educational and economic challenges as the two most
important in the application of precision agriculture
 Educational challenges includes lack of local experts, Knowledgeable
research and extension services
 Compared to all challenges Initial investment in Precision agriculture have
more impact

21. Way forward
 Instead of blindly adopting the advanced Precision agriculture technologies
adopted by developed countries, India should adopt technologies based on the
need of socio-economic condition of country
 The most important component in taking PA forward will be in creating a huge
resources for Engineers, Scientists and agriculturists to develop various
components of the technology
 Government Institutes like ICAR, Industries and farmers have to work
together, interact and collaborate to develop smart systems in PA
 Industries have to take charge because they will help in develop the
machinery

22. Conclusion
 When compared to US, and Europe the development and adoption of precision
agriculture in India is a slow process
 In the present time of increasing input costs, decreasing commodity prices
and environmental concerns, farmers and Government authorities are looking
for new ways to increase efficiency, cut costs and shift to sustainable
agriculture.
 To achieve or overcome this problems Precision farming looks promising as a
future tool

23. References
1. P. Mondal, V.K. Tewari Present status of precision farming: a review Int J
Agric Res, 2 (1) (2007), pp. 1-10
2. Shibusawa S. Precision farming approaches to small farm agriculture.
Agro- Chemicals Report. 2002; 2 (4):13-20.
3. M.Wang Possible adoption of precision agriculture for developing countries
at the threshold of the new millennium Computer Electron Agric, 20
(2001), pp. 45-50

26. Thank you