GPS Farming

Productivity nowadays may seem to have reached a stationary (maximum) point due to the global availability of fertilizers and pesticides which are used to improve crop yield. However, misuse of these products and lack of awareness of the field parameters can decrease our productivity and endanger the environmental balance in the cultivation area. 

Farming is becoming more scientific, with remote sensing, GPS and data analytics all being added to farming equipment. Thousands of farmers all over are adopting the new equipment to make their farming more precise. Tractors can map fields, drive themselves, and check its own motion within inches so it doesn’t waste fertilizer, seed or fuel.  Farming technology includes remote sensing with data collection on variables like nutrient levels and soil moisture.

 The GPS (Global Positioning System) and GIS (Global Information System) have advanced quite well in last few years. These technologies combine the real-time data collection with accurate position information, enabling the efficient manipulation and analysis of large amounts of geospatial data. Most importantly, the technology is now available for the use of any mobile phone user with a GPS chip in it.

GPS is being used to achieve precision farming and enables farm planning, field mapping, soil sampling, crop scouting, and yield mapping. GPS also allows farmers to work during low visibility field conditions such as rain, dust, fog, and darkness.

GPS is being used to correlate production techniques and crop yields with land variability. The correlation enables the farmers to develop the most effective soil/plant treatment strategies, hence enabling higher farm production. Today, farmers in developed countries use GPS mapping for more precise application of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers; better control and dispersion of these chemicals are possible through precision agriculture, thus reducing expenses, producing a higher yield, and creating a more environmentally friendly farm.

The benefits of precision agriculture are not only limited to the large farms with huge capital investments and experience with information technologies. There are inexpensive and easy-to-use methods and techniques that can be utilized by all farmers. Through the use of GPS, GIS, and remote sensing, information needed for improving land and water use can be collected. Farmers can achieve additional benefits by combining better utilization of fertilizers and other soil amendments, determining the economic threshold for treating pest and weed infestations, and protecting the natural resources for future use.

Good farming planners use data collection devices with GPS for accurate positioning to map pest, insect, and weed infestations in the field. Pest problem areas in crops can be pinpointed and mapped for future management decisions and input recommendations.

Farm management software like farmNXT™ have features that help farmers with:
– Geo mapping Fields
– Mapping Yield

And relate them to:
– Soil samples
– Farming practices (such as application of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers)

This analysis will help farmers adjust the farming practices to save cost on inputs and enhance the yield.

The development and implementation of precision agriculture or site-specific farming has been made possible by combining the Global Positioning System (GPS) and geographic information systems (GIS). These technologies enable the coupling of real-time data collection with accurate position information, leading to the efficient manipulation and analysis of large amounts of geospatial data. GPS-based applications in precision farming are being used for farm planning, field mapping, soil sampling, tractor guidance, crop scouting, variable rate applications, and yield mapping. GPS allows farmers to work during low visibility field conditions such as rain, dust, fog, and darkness.

In the past, it was difficult for farmers to correlate production techniques and crop yields with land variability. This limited their ability to develop the most effective soil/plant treatment strategies that could have enhanced their production. Today, more precise application of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, and better control of the dispersion of those chemicals are possible through precision agriculture, thus reducing expenses, producing a higher yield, and creating a more environmentally friendly farm.

Precision agriculture is now changing the way farmers and agribusinesses view the land from which they reap their profits. Precision agriculture is about collecting timely geospatial information on soil-plant-animal requirements and prescribing and applying site-specific treatments to increase agricultural production and protect the environment. Where farmers may have once treated their fields uniformly, they are now seeing benefits from micromanaging their fields. Precision agriculture is gaining in popularity largely due to the introduction of high technology tools into the agricultural community that are more accurate, cost effective, and user friendly. Many of the new innovations rely on the integration of on-board computers, data collection sensors, and GPS time and position reference systems.

GPS equipment manufacturers have developed several tools to help farmers and agribusinesses become more productive and efficient in their precision farming activities. Today, many farmers use GPS-derived products to enhance operations in their farming businesses. Location information is collected by GPS receivers for mapping field boundaries, roads, irrigation systems, and problem areas in crops such as weeds or disease. The accuracy of GPS allows farmers to create farm maps with precise acreage for field areas, road locations and distances between points of interest. GPS allows farmers to accurately navigate to specific locations in the field, year after year, to collect soil samples or monitor crop conditions.

Crop advisors use rugged data collection devices with GPS for accurate positioning to map pest, insect, and weed infestations in the field. Pest problem areas in crops can be pinpointed and mapped for future management decisions and input recommendations. The same field data can also be used by aircraft sprayers, enabling accurate swathing of fields without use of human “flaggers” to guide them. Crop dusters equipped with GPS are able to fly accurate swaths over the field, applying chemicals only where needed, minimizing chemical drift, reducing the amount of chemicals needed, thereby benefiting the environment. GPS also allows pilots to provide farmers with accurate maps.

Benefits

• Precision soil sampling, data collection, and data analysis, enable localized variation of chemical applications and planting density to suit specific areas of the field.
• Accurate field navigation minimizes redundant applications and skipped areas, and enables maximum ground coverage in the shortest possible time.
• Ability to work through low visibility field conditions such as rain, dust, fog and darkness increases productivity.
• Accurately monitored yield data enables future site-specific field preparation.
• Elimination of the need for human "flaggers" increases spray efficiency and minimizes over-spray.