Precision agriculture (AP) techniques are used on about nine million hectares in Brazil, says José P. Molin, professor of the Precision Agriculture Laboratory at Esalq / USP and president of the Brazilian Association of Precision Agriculture (AsbraAP). an entity that organizes until Thursday (04), the Brazilian Congress of Precision Agriculture (ConBAP 2018), in Curitiba (PR). “I estimate that approximately 15% of Brazilian farmers adopt some precision agriculture practice.”
The truth is that the term “precision agriculture” has lost ground in recent years to “digital agriculture”, but Molin explains that they are, in the first place, distinct areas, although they present increasingly different points of intersection and are therefore complementary .
The expert explains that the AP has two main pillars: to act on the spatial variability of the crops through the analysis of soil sampling for georeferenced application of inputs [fertilizers, pesticides, etc], and the technology for the automation of agricultural machinery, such as GPS-guided autopilot.
On the other hand, stresses Molin, digital agriculture, that is, the use of Information Technology (IT), whether devices and software, in agribusiness is something broader. “It involves applications aimed at genetics, meteorology, logistics, rural business management, etc.”
According to the expert, the AP has enormous potential for growth in Brazil. “The vast majority of producers still decide by average soil analysis, for example.” Molin stresses that the AP that needs to be pursued is that of more and more specific analysis, meter by meter within a single field.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.