Precision Agriculture In Farming

Precision agriculture is an advanced management concept in farming that comprises a set of technology, systems, machinery, and resources to analyze, predict, plant, grow and monitor farming in a better way. Precision agriculture consists of measuring, managing and monitoring crops by understanding spatial variability and soil characteristics. It is also used for providing variable treatments to crop using modern technology sets and equipment, such as Satellite Farming (use of GIS and GPS), Variable Rate Technology (VRA) and Site-Specific Crop Management, to optimize production and efficiently use all resources (Gebbers and Adamchuk., 2010).

Site-specific nitrogen management refers to higher level and lower level controls involved in crop production

According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC 2015), 6.6% of Canada’s GDP is accounted by agricultural products. Also, the food service industry is the largest employer in the agriculture and agri-food sector, accounting for 5.7% of all Canadian jobs (approximately 2.3 million people). Therefore, it is essential to look at various aspects, techniques and practices that can help maximize production. Agriculture expenses totaled $42 billion in 2013 (Figure 2), and crop fertilization was the second largest expenditure item after animal feed. It accounted for $5.0 billion, i.e., 11.7% of total expenditures (Figure 2). According to Fertilizer Canada, which represents manufacturers, wholesale and retail distributors of nitrogen, phosphate, potash and sulfur fertilizers, they play an important role in helping feed the world. World food production has more than doubled since 1960. Today, an estimated one-third to one-half of our global food supply is directly linked to the use of commercial fertilizers. If we are to meet future food demands, we need to double our current levels of production. Continuing to make better and more efficient use of fertilizer will help us feed the growing

Soils can be improved but also degraded through fertilization. The choice of the proper kind of fertilizer and the rate of application are very important issues for crop growth and the environment. It was also found that decreases in profit can be due to either over- or under the recommendation of N fertilization (Bullock and Bullock, 1994).

Conventional practices can sometimes result in sizeable fertilizer N losses, especially in extremely wet springs in the Corn Belt (Mathesius and Luce, 2009). In fact, only 30 to 50% of applied N is recovered by the crop in many cases (Raun and Johnson, 1999). Lost N not only reduces grower profits (through lost fertilizer and reduced yields in N deficient areas) but it can also lead to environmental contamination (i.e., nitrate leaching or greenhouse gaseous losses). It was found by Selassie ( 2015) that improving soil fertility is one of the major factors to improve soil