Possible Applications of Geographic Information System in Precision Farming

Abstract

Experts of IKR Inc. have for a long time been concerned with the thought of adapting precision farming, which is widely known of the positive experience and which is more and more popular, to the domestic circumstances, since with the ground-specific cultivation a plannable and controllable farming system can be realized. We can say it already now that it is about a system each of which elements is working. It is owing to the practical experience gained during our experimental work started four years ago, the support of Nemzeti Kutatási és Fejlesztési Programok (National Programmes for Research and Development), the expertise of our colleagues, and the attitude of the farmers taking part in the programme. According to our ideas, we can apply a system-level cultivation-technological process in practice within 2-3 years. I did my experiments on a plot of land of 32.5 hectares in 1999, 2000 and 2001. The examined cidture was maize. In this article I am writing about this plot of land where the process of data collection was completed, detailing the integration of gained data, problems occurred applying geographic information systems, problems of data collection, possibilities of analysis, communication problems between softwares and the opportunities of development. On the one hand I am illustrating what sort of opportunities are provided by the conditions of precision farming, and on the other hand what kind of research is still needed in technical conditions and in the geographic information system to develop it, so as we can offer it to our partners as a complete farming system. IKR Inc. cultivates a land of nearly 1000 hectares with this new technology. On the basis of my experience from the practice of operation I drew the conclusion that we should adapt a precision cultivation system for our machinery system, despite the fact that we have solved several impermeabilities between the systems. Technology goes on developing regarding its level and service opportunities. With the Global Positioning System we are able to get more-, and more reliable data, and if it is completed with other possibilities for data collection of the geographic information system, we can create a firm basis for revealing correlations. We have not been able to make a calculation about the relation of expectable advantages and expenditures yet, since it requires data rows of several years, but the experience and data we have so far, suggest epoch-making opportunity for changing the present practice of cultivation and making it more precise.