Precision Farming: A Step Towards Sustainable, Climate-Smart Agriculture

Abstract

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our times, and we are steadily marching towards a climate catastrophe. Among the various sectors which is fuelling the climate change through emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), the contribution of agricultural sector is 24%. Unscientific farm management practices like imprudent fertilizer and pesticide application, livestock management practices, land use changes etc. are the driving forces which have led to increased GHG emissions from agriculture. Thus, strategies to reduce the emission and its subsequent impact on the changing climate is the need of the hour, as agriculture besides being a contributor is also one of the most vulnerable sectors affected by climate change. Precision farming or precision agriculture (PA) is one such instrument which is effective in making agriculture more ‘climate smart’ by reducing its impact on the environment. This technique of farming employs right management practices at the right place and time by capturing the heterogeneity of the land at a minute scale. Thus, PA is a technology intensive system, which requires the assistance of Global Positioning System; different sensors for monitoring soil moisture, nutrients etc. and geo-referenced maps for different soil properties but when adopted at a large scale would help to improve the productivity, increase the saving of resources and reduce the environmental impact. PA is the modern-day climate-smart agriculture strategy, which could answer the problem of food insufficiency in developing countries and emerge as a powerful tool, as well as solution to the innumerable challenges faced by the agriculture sector.