This document discusses the application of remote sensing in precision farming. It begins with an introduction explaining the increasing global demand for food and declining arable land, calling for modern technologies like precision farming. Precision farming aims to optimize inputs and outputs for long-term sustainability and profitability. Remote sensing provides tools for precision agriculture by collecting data over large areas to monitor crops, soils, pests and more. The document then discusses various remote sensing applications in precision farming like crop yield modeling, soil mapping, drought monitoring and more. It concludes remote sensing is a valuable tool for precision agriculture.

1. ASSIGNMENT
ON
Application of Remote Sensing in Precision Farming
SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:
Dr.(Mrs) Shweta Gautam Suman KumarDey
Assistant Professor Id. No: 19MSAGRO070
College of Forestry M.Sc. Ag.(Agronomy)
NAI,SHUATS II semester
NAINI AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTE,
FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE,
SAM HIGGINBOTTOM UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, TECHNOLOGY
AND SCIENCES,
PRAYAGRAJ, 211007

2. Introduction :
With the world’s population crossing the six billion mark and expected to increase by another
three billion over the next five decades, the world’s food scenario is changing fast. Arable land
resources being limited, the pressure on presently productive land is greater than ever before. Per
capita arable land is projected to decline from about 0.23 ha in 2000 to about 0.15 ha by 2050.
The global demand for food is projected to increase by 1.5–2 times ,due to the combined effects
of a larger population and richer diet for those ascending the economic ladder.
On the other hand, volatility in the cost of agricultural inputs and the income generated from
farm products leads to instability in the farm economy. This scenario calls for the introduction of
modern technologies to improve crop yield, provide information to enable better in-field
management decisions, reduce chemical and fertilizer costs through more efficient application,
permit more accurate farm records, increase profit margin and reduce pollution. In other words,
farm with precision to optimize inputs and outputs.
Precision farming :
Precision farming is an integrated, information- and production based farming system that is
designed to increase long term, site-specific and whole farm production efficiency, productivity
and profitability while avoiding the undesirable effects of excess chemical loading to the
environment or productivity loss due to insufficient input application. The inference is that better
decision making will provide a wide range of benefits in economic, environmental and social
aspects that may or may not be known or measurable at present . Worldwide, investments in
research and technology development on précising farming have considerably increased during
the past decade.
Importance of precision farming :
Precision agriculture is a production system that promotes variable management practices within
a field, according to site conditions. This system is based on new tools and sources of
information provided by modern technologies. These include according to site conditions. This
system is based on new tools and sources of information provided by modern technologies.
These include remote sensing, global positioning system (GPS), geographic information systems
(GIS), yield monitoring devices, soil, plant and pest sensors, remote sensing, global positioning
system (GPS), geographic information systems (GIS), yield monitoring devices, soil, plant and
pest sensors etc.
Remote sensing technology:
Remote Sensing (RS) is the science of obtaining and interpreting information from a distance,
using sensors that are not in physical contact with the object being observed . The science of
remote sensing includes aerial, satellite and spacecraft observations of the surfaces and
atmospheres of the planets in our solar system, while the Earth is noticeably the most frequent

3. target of study. RS is usually restricted to methods that detect and measure electromagnetic
energy including visible and non-visible radiation that interact with surface materials and the
atmosphere .
The visible region of the spectrum ranges from about 0.4-0.7 μm
Advantages of Remote sensing :
Remote sensing has several unique advantages :
 RS technology is well-known as a non destructive method to collect information about
earth features
 RS data may be obtained systematically over very large geographical areas rather than
just single point observations
 RS data can reveal information about places that are inaccessible to human exploration
 The systematic (raster) data collection in RS can remove sampling bias
 RS can provide fundamental biophysical information that can be used in other sciences
 RS is independent from the data produced elsewhere, in comparison with the other
mapping sciences such as cartography or GIS.
Factors influencing the quality of remote sensed images :
Remote sensed imagery can be used for mapping soil properties, classification of crop species,
detection of crop water stress, monitoring of weeds and crop diseases, and mapping of crop
yield. While using remote sensed images for agricultural decision-making, several issues must be

4. carefully evaluated, including: (1) how accurately the image matches the ground location (also
called geometric precision); (2) to what extent the image depicts features in the ground (i.e.,
spatial and spectral resolutions); and (3) the quality of spectral information represented in
acquired images. Factors influencing the quality of remote sensed images
How can remotely-sensed data be used in agriculture or farming system ?
Today, RS is potentially a practical management tool for site-specific crop management.
Currently, there is a wide range of satellite data that varies in (i) technique (active/ passive,
radiometer/ scatterometer), (ii) spatial resolution from submeter to kilometers (iii) spectral range,
and (iv) viewing geometry.
Today, we can perform many applications with EO data that in only the recent past were
exclusive to manpower investigation and in situ surveys, which was time consuming and hard-
sledding, despite the geographic limitations of such data and techniques. Satellite imagery can be
acquired over any area globally, in a time frame and at a given price. At present, higher
resolution satellite imagery overcomes previous constraints and permits the use of such data as a
quick and easy tool for territorial management, including agricultural analysis, statistics and
subsidy control. QuickBird is currently the satellite with the highest resolution which is available
for agricultural and civilian uses.
Remote Sensing Applications in precising farming :
1. Crop production forecasting: Remote sensing is used to forecast the expected crop
production and yield over a given area and determine how much of the crop will be harvested
under specific conditions. Researchers can be able to predict the quantity of crop that will be
produced in a given farmland over a given period of time.

5. 2. Assessment of crop damage and crop progress: In the event of crop damage or crop
progress, remote sensing technology can be used to penetrate the farmland and determine exactly
how much of a given crop has been damaged and the progress of the remaining crop in the farm.
3. Horticulture, Cropping Systems Analysis: Remote sensing technology has also been
instrumental in the analysis of various crop planting systems. This technology has mainly been in
use in the horticulture industry where flower growth patterns can be analyzed and a prediction
made out of the analysis.
4. Crop Identification: Remote sensing has also played an important role in crop
identification especially in cases where the crop under observation is mysterious or shows some
mysterious characteristics. The data from the crop is collected and taken to the labs where
various aspects of the crop including the crop culture are studied.
5. Crop acreage estimation: Remote sensing has also played a very important role in the
estimation of the farmland on which a crop has been planted. This is usually a cumbersome
procedure if it is carried out manually because of the vast sizes of the lands being estimated.
6. Crop condition assessment and stress detection: Remote sensing technology plays an
important role in the assessment of the health condition of each crop and the extent to which the
crop has withstood stress. This data is then used to determine the quality of the crop.
7. Identification of planting and harvesting dates: Because of the predictive nature of the
remote sensing technology, farmers can now use remote sensing to observe a variety of factors
including the weather patterns and the soil types to predict the planting and harvesting seasons of
each crop.
8. Crop yield modelling and estimation: Remote sensing also allows farmers and experts to
predict the expected crop yield from a given farmland by estimating the quality of the crop and
the extent of the farmland. This is then used to determine the overall expected yield of the crop.
9. Identification of pests and disease infestation: Remote sensing technology also plays a
significant role in the identification of pests in farmland and gives data on the right pests control
mechanism to be used to get rid of the pests and diseases on the farm.
10. Soil moisture estimation: Soil moisture can be difficult to measure without the help of
remote sensing technology. Remote sensing gives the soil moisture data and helps in determining
the quantity of moisture in the soil and hence the type of crop that can be grown in the soil.
11. Irrigation monitoring and management: Remote sensing gives information on the
moisture quantity of soils. This information is used to determine whether a particular soil is
moisture deficient or not and helps in planning the irrigation needs of the soil.
12. Soil mapping: Soil mapping is one of the most common yet most important uses of remote
sensing. Through soil mapping, farmers are able to tell what soils are ideal for which crops and
what soil require irrigation and which ones do not. This information helps in precision
agriculture.

6. 13. Monitoring of droughts: Remote sensing technology is used to monitor the weather
patterns including the drought patterns over a given area. The information can be used to predict
the rainfall patterns of an area and also tell the time difference between the current rainfall and
the next rainfall which helps to keep track of the drought.
14. Land cover and land degradation mapping: Remote sensing has been used by experts to
map out the land cover of a given area. Experts can now tell what areas of the land have been
degraded and which areas are still intact. This also helps them in implementing measures to curb
land degradation.
15. Identification of problematic soils: Remote sensing has also played a very important role
in the identification of problematic soils that have a problem in sustaining optimum crop yield
throughout a planting season.
Reference:
Khanal S. Remote Sensing in Precision Agriculture. Ohio State University Extension.2017
Patil B, and Chetan T. Role of Remote Sensing in Precision Agriculture.University of
Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, 2016, 2456-2904
Santhosh K. Seelan*, Soizik Laguette, Grant M. Casady, George A. Seielstad. Remote sensing
applications for precision agriculture:A learning community approach. Remote Sensing of
Environment 88 (2013) 157–169