DESIGNED AND DEVELOPED UNDER THE AEGIS OF

NAHEP Component-2 Project “Investments In ICAR Leadership In Agricultural Higher Education”

Division of Computer Applications
ICAR-Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute
 Course Details

Course Code AG11_N

Course Name Geoinformatics, Nanotechnology and Precision

Farming

Lesson 1. Concepts of precision agriculture and smart

techniques
Disclaimer : Presentations are intended for educational purposes only and do not replace independent
professional judgement. Statement of fact and opinions expressed are those of the presenter individually and are
not the opinion or position of ICAR-IASRI. ICAR-IASRI does not endorse or approve, and assumes no responsibility
for the content, accuracy or completeness of the information presented.

1
Created by

Name Role University

Mainak Ghosh Content Creator Bihar Agricultural University,Bhagalpur

Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural

Vikas Sharma Course Reviewer
Sciences and Technology of Jammu ,Jammu

2
Introduction
 Total geographical area is 329 mha in India out of which 195 mha is
gross cropped area and 141 mha is net sown area.
 Net irrigated area is 65.3 mha & rest is rain fed.
 Worldwide only 1% freshwater supports human health and other
enterprises.
 Agriculture is the largest global consumer of water. 69% of global
water withdrawal from rivers, lakes & ground water is used for
agriculture.
 Irrigated area constitute 40% of the total area used for agriculture
production (FAO 2014).
 Consumption of fertilizer is increasing day by day for food grain
production.
 India is the second biggest consumer of fertilizer in world next only
to china.
 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
PRODUCTION, IMPORT AND CONSUMPTION
NitrogenousOF FERTILIZERS (in ʹ000 tonnes)
fertilisers

Production 12157 12259 12194 12378 12394

Import 4493 5240 4801 3920 4766
Consumption 16558 17300 16821 16750 16946
Phosphatic fertilizers

Production 4223 4104 3541 3714 3875

Import 3802 4427 2797 1588 1832
Consumption 8050 7914 6653 5633 6098
Potassic fertilizers

Import 4069 3335 1559 1926 2537

Consumption 3514 2576 2062 2099 2532

Source: Department of Fertilizers, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation , (2015)

 Precision Agriculture

Precision agriculture is an art and science of utilizing innovative, site-specific techniques for
management of spatial and temporal variability using affordable technologies for enhancing output,
efficiency, and profitability of agricultural production in an environmentally responsible manner.

(Koch & Khosla, 2003)

Precision Agriculture

• With the world population growing faster than ever and the
increasing demand of food production, the judicious use of plant
nutrients and other agricultural inputs is as important as ever.
• Precision agriculture is the application of technologies and
principles to manage spatial and temporal variability associated with
all aspects of agricultural production for the purpose of improving
crop performances and environmental quality.
• It is a holistic and environmentally friendly strategy in which
farmers can vary input use and cultivation methods, including
application of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and water, variety
selection, planting, tillage, and harvesting to match varying soil and
crop conditions across the field.
Need of precision agriculture

 Precision agriculture play a vital role in context of economic and environmental

benefits, reduced use of water, fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides besides the
farm equipments and their optimum use.
 Precision farming approach recognizes site-specific differences i.e. spatial
variability within fields and adjusts management actions accordingly.
 The spatial variations can be traced towards management practices, soil properties
and environmental characteristics.
 In context of soil characteristics that affect yields include texture, structure,
moisture, organic matter, nutrient status and landscape position.
 In case of environmental characteristics include weather, weeds, insects and
diseases which are governing factor towards increase or loss of yield of the crops.
(Cassman et al., 2002)
Crop Based Management

NDVI
~96 kg/ha
0.61

NDVI
0.81 ~96 kg/ha

NDVI
0.41 ~96 kg/ha
 NDVI ~92 kg/ha
Medium 0.61

High NDVI ~144 kg/ha

0.81

NDVI ~37 kg/ha

0.41

Low
 What could happen when implementing
precision N management?
 Same inputs, higher yield
 Less inputs, same yield
 Higher inputs, higher yield
 Less inputs, higher yield (best scenario)
 Less input, lower yield (worst scenario)

Yield
Yield

Input

Yield
Input

Input
Yield

Yield
Input

Input

Input

Yield
Uniform VRA VRA VRA VRA VRA
Smart techniques involve in precision agriculture

 The technologies such as global positioning system (GPS), variable rate

irrigation, fertilizer and sprayer controllers, robotics, and real time decision
making based on sensor networks and remote sensing are adopted.
 The reflectance based vegetation indices use a combination of wavebands
such as the ratio vegetation index (RVI) and the normalized difference
vegetation index (NDVI).
 Precision agriculture includes a wide range of geospatial technologies such
global positioning systems (GPS), geographical information system (GIS)
and mobile data processing equipment.
 Remote sensing is an aerial precision applicator for obtaining information on
crop nutrient status for portions of or an entire field.

Continue….
 The simplest, reliable and inexpensive tool for precision N management is
the leaf colour chart (LCC), which can successfully be used to guide need-
based fertilizer N application in crops based on spectral properties of leaves.

Leaf Colour Chart SPAD Meter Greenseeker

 Minolta Camera Company developed a portable chlorophyll meter or SPAD
meter which can be used to estimate chlorophyll levels in leaves. N is the key
element in chlorophyll molecules and chlorophyll meter provides instant
crop N status as SPAD value in a nondestructive manner.

 The Greenseeker is commercially available on-board device which uses active

radiation from red and near infra red (NIR) light emitting diodes (LED) to
obtain reflectance data independent of solar illumination. The NDVI from
Greenseeker has been found useful in determining the management zones
 Variable rate technology: The Variable rate application technology (VRT) in
precision agriculture is an area of technology that focuses on the automated application
of materials to a given landscape. The way in which the materials are applied is based
on data that is collected by sensors, maps, and GPS. These materials are like fertilizers,
chemicals, and seeds, and they all help optimize one’s crop production. There are
many forms of technology that are used in variable rate application for precision
agriculture. They include everything from drones and satellites, to artificial
intelligence and hyperspectral imaging. Regardless of which variable rate application
technology is used, it is important to understand the general way in which this
technology is applied.

Applying fertilizer is a
common agricultural activity
that can be completely
automated with the correct
implementation of VRT
 STCR: The STCR is an integral part of precision agriculture technology.I n
1967, AICRP (All India Coordinate Research Project) on STCR was
established by ICAR and the STCR concept was developed by Ramamoorthy,
in 1987. The STCR provides the relationship between a soil test value and crop
yield. This is also called as “rationalized fertilizer prescription approach” in
which inherent soil fertility and yield level of the crop are taken in to account
while recommending the fertilizer doses. The STCR approach is aiming at
obtaining a basis for precise quantitative adjustment of fertilizer doses under
varying soil test values and response for targeted levels of crop production.
The STCR provides the relationship between a soil test value and crop yield.
These are tested in follow up verification by field trials to back up soil testing
laboratories for their advisory purpose under specific soil, crop, and agro
climatic conditions.
Drone technology: Drones can help farmers to optimize the use of inputs (seed,
fertilizers, water), to react more quickly to threats (weeds, pests, fungi), to save time
crop scouting (validate treatment/actions taken), to improve variable-rate prescriptions
in real time and estimate yield from a field. Drones fly around 50 - 100m high. Above
50m high, a special authorization is required. Currently, flying agricultural drones
depends on national laws. Nonetheless a training is normally required. A drone can fly
under any weather condition. Drones are water resistant, but image quality can be
damaged if pictures are taken during rainy weather. The distance cover by drone
depends on the drone capability and size. Fixed wings drones have longer flight time
and can cover more field in one flight. For instance, 50 min flight time will cover up to
12km2.
Sensor based irrigation system: For determining the soil moisture content (in
volumetric and gravimetric forms), various techniques can be employed, which can be
categorized into (i) classical and (ii) modern techniques for both the laboratory and in
situ measurements. The classical soil moisture measurement techniques include thermo-
gravimetric, calcium carbide neutron scattering, gypsum block and tensiometer
methods. While the modern techniques utilize soil resistivity sensor, tensiometers,
infrared moisture balance and dielectric techniques like Time Domain Reflectometry
(TDR), Frequency Domain Reflectometry (FDR) capacitance technique, heat flux soil
moisture sensors, micro-electro mechanical systems and optical techniques. Estimation
of water content based on sensor measurements provide real time, in situ measurements
at a relatively affordable cost. Soil moisture sensors potentially provide the means to
irrigate in accordance with the unique characteristics of a given crop in a given field.

TDR in Agriculture field

 Reasons behind paradigm shift towards Precision
 One of the major challenge of 21st century will be feeding the world’s growing
population .
 Inefficient inputs/fertilizer use is a key factor pushing the cost of cultivation
and pulling down the profitability in farming .
 Productivity per ha or unit input is decreasing day by day.
 Degradation of natural resources (soil &water)are increasing due to extra
active farming practices.
 Major constraints regarding high productivity is low nutrient use efficiency
 Imbalanced use of fertilizers.
 Water supply and quality will continue to be major global issues as shifts occur
in urbanization, sanitation, declining availability of groundwater, and increased
environmental regulations.
 It is estimated that 60% of the global population may suffer from water scarcity
by 2025.
 Two of the largest factors contributing to the large yield gap between high-
productivity farmers and “average” farmers are management of water
&nutrient.
 According to 5-R concept Precision agriculture is defined as the science
of applying for improving productivity, conserving natural resources
and avoiding any ecological and social tribulations.

Right
5-R Right
input
Right
time
Right
amount place
Right
manner

(Khosla 2010)

.
 Precision nutrient and water management is two of the key
components of precision agriculture.
 It governs all the major issues of improving productivity, sustainability,
profitability and climate change related turbulences.
THANK YOU