Precision agriculture as a tool for sustainability

Precision agriculture is the name given to an innovative approach for crop production that represents a unique blend of old thoughts and new tools. Established principles and processes support a treasure of knowledge and wisdom that provides a foundation for applying new technologies to proven concepts and practices. These new technologies include innovative computer software, a new generation of sensors, and ingenious control devices, as well as instrumentation and communication technologies from the defense industry. Had it not been for the development of global positioning systems (GPS) by the military and geographical information systems (GIS) by the mining and exploration companies, precision agriculture would not be happening. Incorporating the various monitors, communication devices, and computers into agricultural equipment has resulted in a variety of sophisticated implements intended to increase profitability and protect the environment through better management decisions. These new implements not only keep track of the geographical position in fields, but are also able to monitor what is happening and control production inputs and processes on-the-go. In essence, precision agriculture tools and devices are able to collect huge amounts of site-specific data that can readily be assimilated into useful information from which management decisions can be made. In the past, producers familiar with the land, crops, and climate subjectively integrated the various factors and made decisions as appropriate. The goal of precision agriculture is to systematically make intelligent site-specific management decisions based on objective information (data) gathered from various sources and collected at different times. The success of precision agriculture depends on being able to identify meaningful relationships between factors that are economically and environmentally important and parameters that can be easily measured with a reasonable degree of spatial resolution. The relative importance of these relationships is known to change with time (within growing seasons and between years) and the process of integrating the information into reliable and consistent decisions is complicated because the interactions between climate, soil, and the crop are complex.