GIS/GPS based Precision Agriculture Model in India –A Case study

Abstract

In the present day context of changing information needs of the farmers and diversified production systems there is an urgent need to look for the effective extension support system for the small and marginal farmers in the developing countries like India. The rapid developments in the collection and analysis of field data by using the spatial technologies like GPS&GIS were made available for the extension functionaries and clientele for the diversified information needs. This article describes the GIS and GPS based decision support system in precision agriculture for the resource poor farmers. Precision farming techniques are employed to increase yield, reduce production costs, and minimize negative impacts to the environment. The parameters those can affect the crop yields, anomalous factors and variations in management practices can be evaluated through this GPS and GIS based applications. The spatial visualisation capabilities of GIS technology interfaced with a relational database provide an effective method for analysing and displaying the impacts of Extension education and outreach projects for small and marginal farmers in precision agriculture. This approach mainly benefits from the emergence and convergence of several technologies, including the Global Positioning System (GPS), geographic information system (GIS), miniaturised computer components, automatic control, in-field and remote sensing, mobile computing, advanced information processing, and telecommunications. The PPP convergence of person (farmer), project (the operational field) and pixel (the digital images related to the field and the crop grown in the field) will better be addressed by this decision support model. So the convergence and emergence of such information will further pave the way for categorisation and grouping of the production systems for the better extension delivery. In a big country like India where the farmers and holdings are many in number and diversified categorically such grouping is inevitable and also economical. With this premise an attempt has been made to develop a precision farming model suitable for the developing countries like India.