Smart precision farming: the next generation driver towards sustainable tea farming

Abstract

The United Nations (UN) has put forward a pressing call for action by all countries to strive to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aiding advancement while protecting our planet. The SDGs range from promoting education, social well-being, health, job-opportunities, gender equality to economic growth and establishing sustainable communities while tackling climate change and protecting the environment. Agriculture is one of the common threads that affect much of the SDGs and its transformation will support achieving them and ushering a sustainable future for agricultural communities and countries in general.

2011 census recorded over 60% of India’s population to be depended on agriculture, with the sector contributing more than 18.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product of the country. However, recent times have seen a steep decline in production due to a number of factors including climate change, pollution (air and water) and imbalanced soil nutrients. Like most crops, tea which is a major cash crop in India, is severely affected by changing environment condition. Such facts must be taken in with the caveat that agriculture is extremely vulnerable to climate change but also the cause of climate change.

Technology has the potential to address such adverse and dynamic challenges. Technological advancements consider the variability of soil and relevant environment conditions through real time monitoring for targeted treatment, previously not possible in traditional farming techniques. This short paper will provide an overview of the current state-of-the art technological advancements in the various aspects of precision farming keeping sustainability at its core and tea farming in context.