The next best thing in agriculture or the future of agriculture is called Precision Agriculture. With precision agriculture, farmers and soils work smart, not hard. The era of the internet, robotics, and data analysis has spawned a new incarnation of the agriculture sector, resulting in tremendous yields with less inputs. The wave of innovations started from Geo-mapping satellite developed by the US’s NASA to drones, which are frequently used to collect aerial data, moisture, temperature, and other weather data on the land are collected by sensors which provide an insight view of the health of the cultivable land. Advanced sensors and monitoring equipment have now enabled farmers to grab minute crop’s data continuously and, more precisely, thereby enabling farmers to make more strategic decisions to increase productivity, with a reduced harmful impact on the future environment.
As compared to U.S Precision Agriculture investments in India have generally lagged, but recently this era of technology is gaining momentum by using higher technology and smartphone penetration. In November 2017, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation teamed up with the government of Andhra Pradesh to work upon data Mining skills for Agriculture to make future farming progressive and smart. Here at SGT University, we guide students not only to the traditional methods of Agriculture but also emphasizes the current methods of Precision Agriculture for agriculture service-industry occupations. The curriculum has been designed to get a thorough knowledge of different subjects like soil science, soil fertility, plant pests, precision agriculture, remote sensing for Agriculture, and data analysis. The curriculum has all the elements including geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) applied to agricultural production or management activities that will help to prepare students for challenging employment opportunities with different hi-tech companies.
Dr. Sonia Goel
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Agricultural Science
SGT University
