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Low agricultural production is attributed to untested fertilizers, economic constraints and lack of advanced technology
Hence application of Precision Agriculture needs to be clubbed with information and communication networking to boost productivity in J&K
By: G.M. Wani
Srinagar: In Kenya, use of advanced information and communication technologies reduced gaps in yields of agricultural crops between research and farmer’s fields. It is the country where 70% population is connected with agriculture for livelihood directly or indirectly and 80% of its export is agricultural oriented. Reduction in yield gaps through effective use of information and communication technology will have a significant impact.
This stands proved by the low productivity in Soybean, which was found to be due to partial adoption of production recommendations by farmers in Mahrashtra. The low yield factors were analyzed. Economic constraints, situational factors and communication gaps on crop production, protection, seed treatment and fertilizer application were found responsible for it. The modernization of agricultural production and rural development on a pilot basis could have worked well.
It has been observed that Precision Agriculture till date has focused on site-specific data collection for soil and crop management. The technologies for the site-specific field operations and automated data recording are available, but precision agriculture rarely involves them for improvement. The application of precision agriculture has to be clubbed with information and communication networking to harvest the gains and to improve productivity. This network may consist of an open software platform, which can be operated by the farmer himself. For efficient communication Internet and mobile telecommunication have been identified as important components. The development of an information and communication network integrating modern software and hardware technologies in a new user-friendly manner is necessary to achieve better acceptance of technologies and improved productivity.
It is worth mentioning that the Australian centre for remote sensing (ACRES) has introduced a new service to provide satellite data for near real time applications. The STAR (Speedy Transmission after reception) service provides access to digital satellite data products in full resolution or compressed format within 12 hrs of a Satellite overpass. The data obtained from ground stations is processed at a facility via a high-speed communication link and high priority procession. This system provides Satellite data on critical applications, like crop yield modeling, pre-harvest crop production forecasting, detecting crop diseases, monitoring crop stress, pest infestation, floods, fires and oil-spills. SPOT –lite is a low cost, off the shelf satellite data product from ACRES that is ideal for use in Geographical information system (GIS). SPOT-LIFE can be accessed at any time via the Internet and is available in the form of tiles covering most of Australia. Advance studies with high applications for increasing agricultural production needs quick dissemination. The effect of rooting zone restriction (RZR) on vegetative and reproduction growth of fruit trees viz grapes, peach and citrus has been investigated. It is known that it improved crop productivity under low availability of water.
“The available communication facilities for agricultural information in 15 states of India were studied. The results suggest that while communication networking opens up agricultural economy, it is not cost effective. The communication networking has to become cost effective. An attempt to have better communication between various forest research divisions and other organizations interested in sustainable forestry have shown encouraging results. An attempt was made to have quick information flow among and between researchers, extension officers and dairy farmers in East Azerbaijan. The information input, output and intersystem communication were studied. The information like advertising, public relation and personal selling was found to be best promoters,” said a group of knowledgeable persons of Kashmir valley.
In the “Unique Selling” approach of the communicator effects target audience, the impact of integrated approach utilizing computers in agricultural information & dissemination in Greece and Poland was studied. The gap in technology known and applied at farmers’ field was found. Researchers lack training in using new information technologies. Thus improvement in agricultural productivity has to keep pace with advanced communication and information technology using computers. Hence application of Precision Agriculture needs to be clubbed with information and communication networking to boost productivity in J&K
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