Precision Agriculture: Future Demand of India

Abstract

Precision farming is a feasible approach for sustainable agriculture. Precision farming makes use of remote sensing to macro-control of GPS to locate precisely ground position and of GIS to store ground information. It precisely establishes various operations, such as the best tillage, application of fertilizer, sowing, irrigation, harvesting etc., and turns traditional extensive production to intensive production according to space variable data. Precision farming not only may utilize fully resources, reduce investment, decrease pollution of the environment and get the most of social and economic efficiency, but also makes farm products, the same as industry, become controllable, and be produced in standards and batches. The use of inputs (fertilizers and pesticides) based on the right quantity, at the right time, and in the right place. This type of management is commonly known as “Site-Specific Management”. The productivity gains in global food supply have increasingly relied on expansion of irrigation schemes over recent decades, with more than a third of the world's food now requiring irrigation for production. However, precision farming has been confined to developed countries. Land tenure system, smaller farm size and crop diversity have limited the scope of precision farming in India. However, there is a wide scope for precision farming in irrigated/ commercial/ fruit and vegetable crops/ high value crops. It is apparent that there is a tremendous scope for precision farming in India as well and it is necessary to develop database of agriculture resources, which will act as decision support system at the farm.