Precision Farming with Geoinformatics: A New Paradigm for Agricultural Production in a Developing Country

Abstract

This paper critically evaluates conventional agricultural land suitability and appraisal methods in a developing country and points out their shortcomings. It also evaluates the new paradigm of precision farming with geoinformatics techniques and highlights the beneficial aspects to land use and agricultural production. In this context the paper shows that traditional physiographic, taxonomic, and land use systems prove inadequate while geoinformatics (using remote sensing data and GPS controlled point observations and soil sample data) work best in modern precision farming. An application of the new paradigm in the Orle River basin in Edo State, Nigeria is used to illustrate how precision farming strategies incorporating geoinformatics might be implemented in Africa.

Modeling Profitability in the Jamaican Coffee Industry

“…The geospatial revolution has arrived on the farm. Applications range from mapping of various soil, water and nutrient components of agricultural land (e.g., [16,17]), land suitability assessment and multicriteria decision making (e.g., [15,[18][19][20][21]), impacts of flood hazards (e.g., [22,23]) and precision agriculture (e.g., [24,25]) among others. The use of precision agriculture (PA), supported by GPS-oriented machines and variable rate of application, and drones to collect data with spatial resolution of less than a centimeter, the field of big data agricultural information is growing fast.…”

Prospects for geoinformatics-based precision farming in the Savanna River basin, Nigeria

“…Geoinfomatics uses remote sensing, global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information systems (GISs) principles and products to collect, analyse and define agricultural suitability areas for precision farming (Rilwani and Ikhuoria 2006). The application of geoinformatic techniques in precision farming has been adopted in the United States and Europe since the middle of the 1990s (Looijen et al 1995, Berry 1998.…”

“…A fundamental problem of agricultural development in Nigeria is poor knowledge and appraisal of the suitability of parcels of lands for agricultural production (Rilwani and Ikhuoria 2006). This has adverse implications for agricultural development because the bulk of agricultural production takes place under traditional systems where soil fertility is a key component.…”

Crop Suitability Mapping for Rice, Cassava, and Yam in North Central Nigeria

“…Various studies (Nuga, 2001;Rilwani & Ikuoria, 2006;Rilwani & Gbakeji, 2009;Uchua et al, 2012) have revealed the need to adopt geo-informatics methods to improve agricultural productivity to meet the nutritional need of the teeming Nigerian masses as well as for export income.…”