Precision farming

Also called: Precision agriculture · Topic: Land Reforms, the Green Revolution and Farm Subsidies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Precision farming (also called precision agriculture) is a way of managing a farm that uses GPS, sensors, drones, remote sensing and data analytics to give each part of a field the inputs it needs (fertiliser, water, pesticide) at the right place, right time and right quantity.

It matters because much of the Green Revolution's damage came from using too many inputs, too evenly. Precision farming cuts waste of fertiliser, water and pesticide. So it tackles soil mining and pesticide residues at the root. It is one of the tools of the Evergreen Revolution.

Explanation

How it works: sense → analyse → apply

• 1. Sense (collect data)
• GPS (satellite-based positioning) tags every reading with its exact spot in the field.
• Sensors in the soil or on machines measure moisture, nutrients and crop health.

• Remote sensing (studying crops from satellites or aircraft) and drones take pictures of the whole field. The pictures show stressed or diseased patches.

• 2. Analyse (make decisions)

• Data analytics software joins these readings into a map of the field.

• The map shows that one field is not uniform. One corner may lack nitrogen while another corner has enough.

• 3. Apply (act on the map)

• Inputs go only where the map says they are needed. This is called variable-rate application: the dose changes from spot to spot instead of one fixed dose for the whole field.
• Example: a drone image shows yellowing leaves in the eastern strip of a wheat field only.
  • The farmer sprays nitrogen on that strip only.
  • The rest of the field gets none.
  • Less urea is bought, less leaks into groundwater, and the crop still gets what it needs.

The "three rights"

• Right place: only the part of the field that needs the input.
• Right time: for example, water when soil moisture falls, not on a fixed calendar.
• Right quantity: a dose matched to what the soil or crop lacks. This is the opposite of blanket use.

Tools that fit with it

• Micro-irrigation (drip and sprinkler, which put water near plant roots). With fertigation (giving fertiliser through the irrigation water), water and nutrients reach the roots in measured amounts.
• Soil Health Card: gives a nutrient-based fertiliser recommendation for each field. This is the starting data for applying the right quantity.
• Kisan drones: used for spraying and for checking crop condition.

What helps or holds back adoption

• Helps:
• Digital public infrastructure (AgriStack, soil maps).
• Machines rented through custom hiring centres (places that rent farm machinery to small farmers).

• Rising input costs and falling water tables.

• Holds back:

• Small and scattered landholdings.
• High cost of equipment.
• Weak digital skills and patchy connectivity.
• Input subsidies that make over-use cheap. Free power and cheap urea remove the reason to measure carefully.

In India

• Why India needs it (the problems it targets):
• Nutrient imbalance: fertiliser subsidies favoured urea (nitrogen, N). The ideal NPK ratio is often given as 4:2:1, but Punjab's use leans far more towards N. The results are micronutrient deficiencies (zinc, sulphur, iron) and a flat yield response (each extra bag of fertiliser adds less grain).
• Groundwater stress: in the Dynamic Ground Water Resources Assessment 2022, 1,006 of 7,089 assessment units (14%) were over-exploited, and the national stage of extraction was 60.08% [1]. Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have a stage of extraction above 100% [2].

• Pesticide residues in food, water and soil. The Malwa belt of Punjab is often cited for high cancer incidence.

• Government support for its building blocks:

• Digital Agriculture Mission (Cabinet approval September 2024): outlay of ₹2,817 crore, including a central share of ₹1,940 crore [4]. It builds Digital Public Infrastructure for agriculture: AgriStack, the Krishi Decision Support System and a Comprehensive Soil Fertility and Profile Map [4][5].
• AgriStack: a farmer registry plus a Digital Crop Survey. 29,99,306 Farmer IDs had been created as on 5 December 2024, and the Digital Crop Survey was done in 436 districts in Kharif 2024 [5].
• Soil Health Card scheme (running since 2014-15): 24.90 crore cards had been generated as on 31 March 2025 [6].
• Per Drop More Crop (a component of PMKSY, 2015): subsidy of 55% for small and marginal farmers and 45% for other farmers on micro-irrigation [3]. It has brought over 115 lakh hectares under micro-irrigation (as of July 2026). An earlier figure was 110.92 lakh ha, about 7.98% of net sown area [3].
• SMAM (Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation) supports custom hiring centres, so small farmers can rent machines they cannot afford to buy.

Don't confuse with

• Digital agriculture: uses digital tools across the whole farm value chain (advisories, data platforms, markets). Precision farming is narrower. It is about applying inputs inside the field at the right place, time and quantity.
• Micro-irrigation: a single technology for water (drip or sprinkler). Precision farming is a whole management approach that covers water, fertiliser and pesticide, guided by data.
• Evergreen Revolution: a goal, M.S. Swaminathan's "productivity in perpetuity without ecological harm". Precision farming is one tool for reaching that goal.
• Organic / natural farming: cuts out or reduces chemical inputs. Precision farming can still use chemicals, but it measures and targets them.

Prelims Hooks

• Precision farming = GPS + sensors + drones + remote sensing + data analytics, used to apply inputs at the right place, right time, right quantity.
• Trap: precision farming does not mean giving up chemical inputs. That is organic or natural farming. Precision farming means targeted use.
• The Digital Agriculture Mission (Cabinet approval September 2024) has an outlay of ₹2,817 crore. Its DPI includes AgriStack, the Krishi Decision Support System and a Soil Fertility and Profile Map [4][5].
• 24.90 crore Soil Health Cards had been generated as on 31 March 2025. They give nutrient-based recommendations that help correct the NPK imbalance [6].
• Per Drop More Crop is a component of PMKSY (2015). The micro-irrigation subsidy is 55% for small and marginal farmers and 45% for others [3].
• SMAM supports custom hiring centres, which rent machinery to small and marginal farmers.

Mains Points

• It answers the Green Revolution's ecological bill:
• Cheap urea → too much N → soil mining. Precision farming fixes this with field-specific doses.
• Free power → over-pumping. Sensor-led irrigation fixes this by giving water only when the soil needs it.
• Blanket spraying → residues and pest resurgence. Targeted spraying by drones cuts both.

• The result is "more crop per drop and per bag" and help in closing the yield gap without new land or water.

• Technology alone is not enough; subsidy design must change:

• While power is free and urea is cheap, farmers gain little from measuring inputs carefully.

• The reform direction is to move from input-price subsidies to direct income support and to pay farmers for saving water. That would make precision farming pay for itself.

• Making it work for small farmers (equity angle):

• India's small plots and costly equipment could leave the gains with richer farmers. This happened with the Green Revolution too.
• Public digital infrastructure (AgriStack, Soil Health Cards), rented machines through CHCs/SMAM, and the micro-irrigation subsidy tilted to small farmers (55%) [3] can spread access more widely.

Related concepts

• Crop rotation
• Intercropping
• Mixed cropping
• Micro-irrigation
• Evergreen Revolution
• Second Green Revolution
• Gene Revolution
• Yield gap
• Digital agriculture
• Custom hiring centre

Read more

• Ecological costs and the next agricultural revolution