The Role of Precision Agriculture in Cropping Systems

Abstract

SUMMARY Precision agriculture is a new and developing discipline that incorporates advanced technologies to enhance the efficiency of farm inputs in a profitable and environmentally sensible manner. Yield monitoring and variable rate application are the most widely used precision technologies. Versatile guidance systems utilizing the global positioning system (GPS) and management zone approaches are also being developed to further increase productivity by reducing error, cost, and time. These technologies provide tools to quantify and manage variability existing in fields across an array of cropping systems. A review of precision farming technologies that are currently being used in the United States and around the world is presented in this article. KEYWORDS: Global positioning systemgeographic information systemsyield monitoringvariable rate applicationparallel swath barmanagement zones