What is variable rate technology in precision agriculture?
Variable rate application (VRA) in precision agriculture is an area of technology that focuses on the automated application of materials to a given landscape. The way in which the materials are applied is based on data that is collected by sensors, maps, and gps.
What are the benefits of variable rate technology?
The benefits of variable rate technology Improved crop yield through optimal use of resources. Greater on-farm productivity and efficiency. Reduction in unnecessary use of materials, therefore maximising use and reducing expenditure. Minimised over-application means reduced risk of run-off or avoidable leaching.
How much does precision farming cost?
On a 750-acre cotton farm, the total cost of a precision farming operation would be less than $12/acre. If acreage is expanded to 2,750 acres and some grain production is included, the cost drops to almost $9.00/acre.
How does variable rate technology work?
Variable-rate technology (VRT) allows fertiliser, chemicals, lime, gypsum, irrigation water and other farm inputs to be applied at different rates across a field, without manually changing rate settings on equipment or having to make multiple passes over an area.
What are the good points of using VRT?
VRT allows farmers to be more efficient in fertiliser and seed application, boost production on some soil types and better manage risk. In the Mallee VRT has great potential due to the highly variable nature of soil types within paddocks and across farms.
What is VRT in agriculture engineering?
Variable- rate technology (VRT) is increasingly being paid attention to in the. eld of agricultural engineering. In such an application, features. of spray targets should inspected continuously, and be used as the.
What are the disadvantages of precision farming?
What are the disadvantages of precision farming? [↑]
- High capital costs may discourage farmers to not adopt this method of farming.
- Precision agriculture techniques are still under development and requires expert advice before actual implementation.
How does precision farming assist with cost saving?
Farmer Hardu Prinsloo: Precision farming makes a big difference in terms of cost savings. Precision farming also allows savings on seeds, because the technology can measure where optimal growth conditions are. Precision farming has helped us to improve costs across the farming operation.
What are the tools used in precision farming?
The main tools used for precision farming are;
- Auto-guidance equipment.
- Variable-Rate Technology.
- Internet of Things.
- Proximate Sensors Technology.
- Global Positioning System and Geographical Information System.
- Grid sampling.
- Remote sensors.
- Proximate Sensors.
What are the disadvantages of precision agriculture?
Disadvantages
- Initial capital costs may be high and so it should be seen as a long-term investment.
- It may take several years before you have sufficient data to fully implement the system.
- Extremely demanding work particularly collecting and then analysing the data.
What is VRT and why is it important?
VRT is the ability to vary the amount of fertilizer or other farm inputs, based on variations in the soil or crop. And maybe the most important data of all in agriculture is soil data. The Falcon allows you to collect soil data in a way that was never possible before.