Precision agriculture consists of increasing resources exploitation and diminishing pollution effects through the employment of current technological tools, especially those related to geographical referencing of sites by satellites, which allows to take as management unit smaller areas than those used by traditional methods; such sites are liked to information databases, as support for decision making. In few words, consists in intervening accurately in the accurate place and moment, making the most out of the precision given nowadays by information technologies.
Precision agriculture constitutes an instrument to diagnose with accuracy agricultural production problems, to make decisions and to obtain satisfactory answers in the indexes of agricultural performance, mainly though technologies as global positioning systems (GPS), sensors, satellites and aerial images, along with geographic information systems (GIS); as a whole, they allow for estimating, evaluating and understanding such variations. Recollected information is used for the highly accurate evaluation of the crop’s optimal density, estimating fertiliser and other required inputs usage, as well as higher-precision predicting of crops production.
There is an application of this technology that is highly spread all over the fields: site-specific, methodology that has been used since this primary sector activity’s beginning, but it had a huge economic boost during agriculture mechanization in the 20th century, in order to work large cropland extensions with uniform agricultural practices. Site-specific technology makes possible to match seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and other agrochemical doses with soil type and other conditions.
GPS is an instrument that allows to elaborate geographical maps much more detailed, this digital technology enables farmers to capture data about their croplands, in a way that their particular spatial characteristics can be examined, contrary to what happens within traditional paradigm, that used to analyse them as if they were homogeneous areas. At present, thanks to GPS, the days of square kilometre-based labour in fields has been left behind, now the labour is square metre-based.
There are different methods to incorporate this technology in agricultural crops, an example is the one presented in the image, which shows a diagram of the site-specific technology cycle, divided in two phases: field evaluation and data application. First phase begins with the harvest guided by a performance monitor and a GPS (showing variability of each sector), then data is analysed with GIS and statistical software, which allows to give specific recommendations for each site; second phase begins with recommendations application, then comes customized sowing and fertilisation for each site, followed by plagues and diseases control (that also varies according to each site characteristics), finally is realised variable fertilisation; and the cycle restarts.
Having said that, the implementation of a new technology always has social repercussions, and precision agriculture case is not the exception, initial resistance to change can be found in all sectors, no matter the benefits brought by technological innovation to that sector where it is established. Within this context, the precision agriculture disadvantage is that it did not rise up as a necessity of small producers, but rather it were transnational producers which imposed such technological innovation in the market. Although the rejection expressed by smallholdings to the implementation of scientific advances is matter that has been transcended by a great number of cases where technology has brought greater efficiency and productivity to agricultural fields.
Lastly, it is worth noting that, in Latin-American countries like Cuba, adopting these new technologies has caused the following changes: performance is risen, costs are diminished, workforce is diminished, a quantitative leap in agriculture is caused up to levels of any highly developed industrial process, it is guaranteed a better environmental care, the quality of countryside life is increased.
Agriculture is one of the most important productive sectors in our country and Sinaloa state is called Mexico’s Breadbasket, given that is one the states with better performances in this matter at a national level. In entities with an economic profile like ours, is of utmost importance incorporating technology based innovative solutions in agricultural processes, because they guarantee a quality and production increase that has an effect on regional socioeconomic improvement.
Written by Alfredo Careaga (Communication, PIT-UAS), translated by Belem Ruiz (Edition and Communication, PIT-UAS).