Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #342791

Title: Sustainability through precision agriculture

Author
item Sudduth, Kenneth - Ken

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/19/2017
Publication Date: 7/3/2017
Citation: Sudduth, K.A. 2017. Sustainability through precision agriculture. In: Abstracts of 8th Asian Leadership Conference, July 3-4, 2017, Seoul, South Korea. The Chosunilbo, Seoul, Korea.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: As population and standard of living increase in many parts of the world, so will the need for food and other agriculturally-based products. To be sustainable, these increases in production must occur with minimum impact on the environment and with efficient use of production resources, including land, water, energy, and other inputs. Achieving this so-called “sustainable intensification” will require farmers and their advisors to better understand and optimize production systems under the constraints of varying soils, weather, and the host of biotic and abiotic stresses that can affect production. This process is enabled by precision agriculture, also called smart farming or agriculture 4.0, which uses electronic and computer systems to collect, manage, and extract information about the farming enterprise both spatially within fields and temporally through the growing season. Precision agriculture then uses this information to automatically control the machines that implement field operations. By recognizing and building on the value of information in agricultural decision-making, precision agriculture allows farmers to “do the right thing, at the right place, at the right time” thus enabling progress toward the goal of sustainable intensification.