Precision Farming

I found very interesting the video from Kumar (2015) about the use of robots for Precision Farming. Over time the machines increasingly perform activities and works traditionally done by human beings, and agriculture is no exception. Precision agriculture is an initiative using UAVs to 'scan' plots in order to improve the genetic performance of what you sow.

With growing demands on the world’s food supply chain, it’s crucial to maximize agriculture resources in a sustainable manner. Currently, precision agriculture technologies are used by larger companies as it requires a robust IT infrastructure and resources to do the monitoring. (IBM Research, n.d.)

Given the limitations of satellites to deliver high-resolution images, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), better known as drones, may be a viable low-cost alternative to monitor agricultural areas, as these are equipped with small multifunctional sensors, supplemented by autonomous navigation systems, and can facilitate frequent monitoring of parameters and variables of interest crop.

However, there are some barriers and forces preventing the expansion and adoption of such technologies. For example, in countries like the US are limitations imposed by some agencies.  Part of the problems is that the police or private or public companies are authorized for the use of drones, this dispassion may violate established privacy laws.

In any case I think that the horizon for agricultural purposes will be seeing more clear because in principle, when it comes to agriculture the operating environment of the drone is not that problematic when it comes to privacy.

 Precision agriculture will bring many benefits on agricultural production, profitable for farmers who decide to acquire new computer skills to enjoy the benefits that this technology brings. Another negative force or disadvantage will be associated with the high cost and training required, which will leave out some producers. On the other hand, management of genetics in food will have to side with the ethical and philosophical field to study and prevent its abuse.

Always, before a technological innovation there is resistance to change, particularly in sectors with less intellectual preparation, such as farmers. Precision Agriculture is an even greater disadvantage in this respect and that did not emerge as a need for small farmers, but were transnational producers of agricultural machinery who is interested on imposing the new technology on the market.

References

IBM Research. (n.d.).Precision agriculture Using predictive weather analytics to feed future generation. Retrieved from http://www.research.ibm.com/articles/precision_agriculture.shtml

Kumar, V. (April, 2015). The Future of Flying Robots. [ Video File ] Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/vijay_kumar_the_future_of_flying_robots