Precision farming in crop production is the application of exact farming technologies to manage spatial and temporal variability for the purpose of improving crop performance and environmental quality . Precision farming has become established due to advances in technology which enable accurate geo-referencing, real-time data acquisition, sensing, telemetric and variable rate application of inputs. Precision farming in crop production uses extensive data from a farmer’s field and the surrounding region to help predict weather conditions and optimize operations . For effective collection and analysis of relevant crop cultivation information, precision farming in crop production employs the services of agro-based remote/sensory technologies.Remote sensing technology refers to the science of wirelessly observing and obtaining information on crop and soil characteristics using devices attached to aircraft, satellite, and agricultural equipment such as tractor .
The sensors are made up of electronic probes and optical scanners that detect changes in the soil and surrounding environment. Remote sensors vary in the type of platform they are mounted, based on light source,spatial and spectral resolution. Remote sensors are classified as passive or active depending on the light source.Passive sensors rely on sunlight,thereby limiting recording to the time when the cloud cover is minimal and the sun is illuminating the target area. These restrictions often limit data collection around noon to maximize available sunlight. Passive sensors are mounted on satellites or airplanes. In contrast to passive sensor, active sensors use their own modulated light at defined or fixed wavelengths. The sensor illuminates the object and uses photodiodes to measure the portion of light that is reflected . A primary advantage of active sensor over passive is its ability to obtain measurements at any period, regardless of the time of the day or season in addition to eliminating the effects of sun angle and cloud cover. Active sensors are mounted on satellites or ground vehicles .
RST can provide useful information for many crop management decisions, including detection of nutrient or water deficiencies and excesses in the soil, damages caused by insects, weeds, or diseases in various portions of the cultivated fields. RST obtains information about an object without directly contacting it. Data collected can range from a simple colour photograph to the crop’s emission of electromagnetic energy . Sensordata can provide farmers real-time information regarding their crop condition, allowing them to respond and make corrective or other management decisions to maximize production. Using a combination of sensors such as temperature, light and humidity, helps the farmer detect risks of frost/drought, possible plant pests/diseases and establish watering requirements based on soil dampness . With the RST, data can be collected for an entire field as compared to traditional scouting methods which only provides single point or partial field coverage while data collected over multiple dates during the season allows farmers to monitor trends in crop progression and manage cultivation of crop in addition to monitoring the exact conditions in which the plants are growing from the comfort of homes.The objectives of smart agriculture among others is to help control conditions and closely monitor performance of crops, where the smallest amount of change in climate can affect the final outcome, and to determine the best conditions for each crop, by comparing the data obtained during the best harvests.
Remote-sensory technology has a variety of applications, including environmental monitoring,site-specific agronomic management,land cover classification, climate- and land-use-change detection, and drought monitoring . The ability of a remote sensor to detect subtle differences in vegetation makes it a useful tool for quantifying within-field variability, evaluating crop growth, and managing fields based on current conditions that may be overlooked using typical ground-based visual scouting methods during crop cultivation. While collecting real-time data on weather, soil, health of crops and air quality is important, it is also necessary to apply precision in crop harvesting to reduce damage and loss. To help cope with the trending resultant events of climate change and to generate enough food to meet the ever-growing demands of a growing global population for food, crop production needs to embrace smarter farming methods through the use of technologies such as agriculturally applicable sensor technology.Using RST in PF will revolutionize the data collection in agricultural field, support the highly sought after automated agriculture system which requires intensive sensing of environmental conditions at the ground level and rapid communication of the raw data to a local or remote server where there is the availability of computational and storage power, the identification of pests in the crops, drought or increased moisture, decision making, while the control of farm equipment is done in real time using automated actuation devices.