The ManicaPost
AGRICULTURE is a business and a farm should be an investment in itself.
That today’s agriculture has transformed into a high-tech enterprise cannot be contested.
Agriculture is a complex scientific system whose production methods have benefited from incorporation of technologies developed for other industries.
Over the years, the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other new tools have moved farming even further into a technological wonderland.
GPS is a satellite based radio-navigation system capable of providing extremely accurate round the clock three-dimensional location data (latitude, longitude and elevation).
It was initially designed for the military as an accurate, all weather navigation system, but the most successful modern farmers now use it to enhance their farming operations.
Thus every farmer – big or small – must devote time, attention and financial resources towards protecting their investment and securing their future by investing in modern tools that keep their farms profitable.
Money to invest in tablets, smart phones, computerised equipment and drones may not be readily available, but the gains outweigh the costs.
Satellite technology is transforming the way farmers manage crops and livestock, and also hold part of solutions on how agriculture can adapt to the impacts of climate change – and reduce contributing to it.
The role of farmers is essential in providing us all with the food we need to survive.
However, the effects of climate change such as rising temperatures, increasingly unpredictable rain patterns and increasing instances of extreme weather events, continue militating against productivity on the farms.
This season, Manicaland is on the brink of a drought.
This follows six weeks of an intense dry spell.
Adaptation of this satellite technology can help move towards more sustainable agriculture.
The ultimate purpose of this high-tech gadgetry is optimisation, from both an economic and an environmental standpoint.
It is about applying optimal amount of any input – water, fertiliser, pesticide, fuel, labour – when and where it is needed to efficiently produce high crop yields.
It helps farmers appreciate a range of farming issues – areas that need more or less irrigation, where their livestock roam, which fertiliser to use, and where, and impact of new weather patterns.
The GSP technology allows fields to be surveyed with ease while yield and soil characteristics can be mapped in such a way that non-uniform fields can be sub-divided into smaller plots according to their specific requirements.
This enhances resource management and reduces wastage.
With the aid of GPS tracking and monitoring systems, farmers can program which routes tractors can use to help save money and time by reducing fuel consumption and the need for additional labour.
With the use of a GPS system, farmers can record the geographic location of insect problems and use the data to treat only those specific areas, thereby preventing the unnecessary treatment of an entire farm and disturbing uninfected plants.
The technology can also be used to determine how well a particular crop is performing.
GPS technology can be used to track and locate wayward farm animals and overcome boundary challenges.
It is a means to document the entire land.
GPS systems provide a number of cost-effective alternatives to older methods of planting, raising and harvesting crops.
Lower costs mean higher potential profits. A higher profit margin can make the difference between a good year and a bad year.
