Introduction

Welcome to Web 2. 0 Training for Batch 3 Animal Husbandry Services Staff....Today, there are more than 7 billion people on the planet, a figure that’s expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050.1 By then, the middle class—who typically have more money available for food, leading to greater demand—could reach 5 billion people by 2030.2 If these numbers hold, overall food production will need to double in a relatively short period of time to meet demand to feed the world’s population.

The good news is that new digital technologies now make it possible to collect and leverage huge amounts of critical data at minimal costs—thus making a farm’s field operations more insight driven, and potentially more productive and efficient. The agriculture ecosystem is already starting to invest in these digital technologies. The total market size for digital-based services, known as “precision agriculture,” is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.2 percent between 2014 and 2020 to reach $4.55 billion.4 Greater use of precision agriculture services is vital to not only improving a farm’s financial performance, but also to meet the food needs of an expanding population.

Generating Vital Operational Insights for Large Farms.

A Precision Agriculture

Precision agriculture (PA) or satellite farming or site specific crop management (SSCM) is a farming management concept based on observing, measuring and responding to inter and intra-field variability in crops.

To be successful, a farm must grow as much per acre as it can, reduce the risk of crop failure, minimize operating costs, and sell crops for the highest price possible. This requires, among other things, effectively managing input resources like fertilizer, water, and seed quality and minimizing the impact of unpredictable variables (such as the weather and pests). However, achieving that objective is far from easy. Conventional methods like physical crop inspection are time consuming and can be inaccurate, while fixed and tractor-mounted sensors alone can’t provide a real-time picture of what’s happening in the field. Farmers face further challenges in translating this data into operational insights that can help them understand which actions to take, when and where. This is where the Accenture Precision Agriculture Service can help. By generating detailed insights into operations and the environment, it assists farmers in making data-based operational decisions to optimize yield and boost revenue while minimizing expenses, the chances of crop failure, and environmental impact. Depending on the crop, the Precision Agriculture Service can help increase overall profitability by $55 to $110 per acre.

-A Precision Agriculture Service use case is helping a farmer decide when to harvest. For instance, the service could alert a farmer that a particular plot might be ready for harvest earlier than expected.

-The Precision Agriculture can be connected to the farm’s work management system, which enables the platform to automatically schedule the relevant machinery and people when the farmer accepts specific recommendations.

-The Precision Agriculture Service also calculates the economic impact of each recommendation so farmers can immediately understand the financial implications of a particular course of action. This feature helps farmers make better realtime operational decisions based on economic measures versus continuing with hereditary or tribal farming practices. In addition, the service allows farmers to review historical information on similar issues that may have been encountered so they can learn from the actions taken