HOW TO MAKE THE RIGHT CONNECTION FOR PRECISION AGRICULTURE
The growing global population coupled with increased awareness of the demands agriculture places on the environment is putting farmers under intense pressure. They’re required to maximize yields to feed more people while simultaneously ensuring their practices are sustainable. In addition, consumers demand cheap food, necessitating greater automation to preserve margins.
There is a need to find a balance between intensive production and respect for nature and this cannot be achieved within the confines of traditional farming. Harnessing technology to enable smart agriculture has emerged to provide farmers with the tools they need to serve a 30% larger population in the future in a sustainable way that is in harmony with nature. Within smart agriculture, there are two main industries: crop production, which includes arable, orchard and vegetable farming, and animal husbandry. These have distinct requirements. This paper focuses on crop production exclusively.
