🌾 The Core Principle: Managing Variability
Precision Agriculture (PA), also known as Smart Farming, is a modern farming management concept that uses digital technology to observe, measure, and analyze the specific needs of individual fields, or even small zones within a field, and then apply targeted treatments.
Instead of treating an entire field uniformly, PA uses data to manage crops "site-specifically," maximizing returns on inputs while preserving resources and protecting the environment.
Traditional farming applies inputs (like seeds, fertilizer, and water) uniformly across an entire field. Precision agriculture recognizes that fields have significant variability in soil type, moisture, nutrient levels, and pest pressure.
Data Analysis: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and AI/Machine Learning algorithms process this data to create detailed prescription maps and actionable insights.