Senwes Scenario Augustus / September 2017 | Page 13

T RA D E N E W S
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Vir die volledige Afrikaanse weergawe
besoek www.scenario.co.za
Basic concepts of
PRECISION FARMING
IS IT REALLY AS EASY AS “THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF INPUT IN THE
RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME WITH THE RIGHT IMPLEMENT”?
PETRUS VAN STADEN
P
recision farming is about
managing field variations
(soil, climate and water) as ac-
curately as possible to grow food
with higher productivity in a sus-
tainable manner, while reducing
production costs and environmen-
tal impact.
Technological development has
resulted in an enormous scope of
possibilities to achieve the above-
mentioned and farm more effec-
tively. These technologies include:
• Remote sensing technology,
• Geo-mapping,
• High precision positioning sys-
tems,
• Automated steering systems,
• Smart sensors and a range of
IT-applications combined with
high-tech engineering,
• Integrated electronic communi-
cations,
• Variable rate technology.
Precision farming starts at the crop growth cycle,
which consists of 4 basic steps:
DATA ANALYSIS & EVALUATION
 PRECISION SOIL
PREPARATION
 PRECISION
HARVESTING
 PRECISION
SEEDING
 PRECISION CROP
MANAGEMENT
[ As this article will focus on dryland precision grain farming, aspects of precision
farming with regard to livestock, irrigation and forage are not included ]
>CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
SENWES Scenario • AUG/SEP 2017
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