Precision agriculture

Traditional commercial farming is often heavily reliant on inputs including pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, which are indiscriminately applied in excess across fields. This has notable issues, not only in the costs associated with overusing inputs, but on the health of the fields themselves, the farmers, as well as having notable pollution concerns from nitrogen runoff. Precision agriculture proposes the use of various technologies to improve resource allocation while also increasing crop yields. For example, the use of micro irrigation, fertiliser, or fertigation systems can all help to optimise water and nutrient use, increase productivity, and minimise environmental losses of nutrients. These methods are all applicable in both urban and rural settings, thus giving precision agriculture the potential to positively transform all types of agriculture.