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Precision Farming with Geoinformatics: A New Paradigm for Agricultural Production in a Developing Country
Author(s) -
Rilwani M L,
Ikhuoria Isi A
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
transactions in gis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.721
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1467-9671
pISSN - 1361-1682
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9671.2006.00252.x
Subject(s) - geoinformatics , agriculture , context (archaeology) , agricultural productivity , environmental resource management , global positioning system , production (economics) , environmental planning , precision agriculture , agricultural land , work (physics) , geography , land use , computer science , remote sensing , environmental science , engineering , civil engineering , economics , mechanical engineering , telecommunications , archaeology , macroeconomics
This paper critically evaluates conventional agricultural land suitability and appraisal methods in a developing country and points out their shortcomings. It also evaluates the new paradigm of precision farming with geoinformatics techniques and highlights the beneficial aspects to land use and agricultural production. In this context the paper shows that traditional physiographic, taxonomic, and land use systems prove inadequate while geoinformatics (using remote sensing data and GPS controlled point observations and soil sample data) work best in modern precision farming. An application of the new paradigm in the Orle River basin in Edo State, Nigeria is used to illustrate how precision farming strategies incorporating geoinformatics might be implemented in Africa.