The agriculture sector is an industry sector that usually slowest in technology adoption and tends to rely on traditional knowledge and habit from the generation before. Nothing wrong with it, but it can’t be precise. For example, how much fertiliser application for one field, when to start planting, what to do if the climate changes from the usual, and other factors that can affect the business.

Therefore, we applied precision farming technology with the help of satellite imageries in our sweet corn project, and still combine it with farmer’s traditional knowledge. These are what we do on our farm.

Fertilisation planning

We use remote sensing to calculate Nitrogen requirement on the soil. So far, farmers are applicating fertiliser on the field by evenly distributing it. But, in reality, the amount of fertiliser needed in one area can be different. Imagine if farmers can fertilising with a more precise amount, there would be savings in the use of fertiliser than usual.

We can also arrange the fertilising schedule 3-5 days in advance by using weather forecast to avoid fertiliser dissolved by the rainwater. Indeed weather forecast can’t be 100% accurate, but it’s helpful. Still, visual observation of the weather is needed.

Crops growth observation

By using satellite imageries, we can also get to know whether crops are growing as expected or not. Then when we detect anomalies, we can analyse the cause. Sensors on the satellite can see things that human eye can’t.

Crops scheduling

We also try to adjust our crops schedule by observing other people’s field around our region. We are doing plants classification by analysing satellite data to predict other people yield. We try to avoid surplus in the market that can lead to the market price drop.

Conclusion

Remote sensing by using satellite is the way to apply the precision farming method without deploying devices or visiting the field. This technique also has a downside. We only get new data every five days and no cloud cover above the area of observation. But, the advantage is we can do the data analysis from far away. Furthermore, we can do historical data analysis to plan for the next growing season.

Do you want to apply precision farming as we do on our farm? Drop us an email to contact@tanibox.com.