Farmer’s Weekly – 30 August 2019

farming. And again, it is vital that
platforms like MyFarmWeb are
in place to present the results of
this data in an understandable
and useable form to their users.
“The faster you can make
farm management decisions
and the more accurate these
decisions, the lower the risks
for the agribusiness,” he says.
“An added benefit of the
MyFarmWeb platform is that if
the farmer is still confused or
unsure about the information
being presented by the platform,
this information can be quickly
shared, via the Internet or other
digital means, with fellow
farmers, agricultural consultants
and other knowledgeable people
for them to consider and then
respond to the farmer with
any advice they may have.”
In both the near and far
future for precision farming
in South Africa are a host
of further advances in the
relevant technologies.
MyFarmWeb will soon
integrate with what De Vries
describes as the “revolutionary”
Verde remote sensing and
processing solution, designed and
implementedbyinternational
aerospacegiantAirbus.
OneofVerde’scapabilities,
usingAirbus’ssatellites,is
generatingmorefrequent,
calibratedbiophysical
parametersorindicesfrom
satelliteimagesforMyFarmWeb
usersatcompetitiveprices.

A further benefitofthis

system is thatincreasingly

informative interpretationsof

the biophysicalparametersare

being developedforspecific

crops, and thatMyFarmWeb

users can accessformeaningful

and precise information– down

to a particulargridwithina

single field – tomakebetter

farmmanagementdecisions.

The Verde resultscanlocate

areas of stresswithina crop,and

guide the farmeroragricultural

consultant totheexactspotfor

ground-levelinvestigationof

what the causeis.A targeted

and appropriateresolutionofthe

stress problemis thenpossible.

Keeping tabs

on resources

De Vries explainsthatother

precision agriculturetechnologies

being developedforlinking

toMyFarmWebincludea day-

by-dayfarmactivityplanning

andmonitoringservicethat

willenablea farmertoremotely

allocatetasksandkeeptrack

ofhowtheseareprogressing;

a trackertomonitorthe

movementsandeffectivenessof

farmmachineryandequipment

CROPS Precision Agriculture

‘The fasTer

you can make

decisions, The

lower The risk’

ABOVE:

Images generated

by drones, manned

aircraft and

satellites can be

used to identify

stressed crop

plants in a field for

further ground-

level investigation

and treatment

by the farmer.

LYNN GREYLING

during their allocated tasks; a

smart layer yield map that can

monitor variations in crop yields

between mapped grids within

a field during harvesting; and

the wireless transmission of

data to in-field farm machinery

and equipment, such as auto-

steer tractors, and variable rate

seeders, fertilisers, sprayers and

irrigation systems, to instruct

them with the likes of exactly

when, where and how much to

apply of the relevant input.

“There is also a service being

developed for MyFarmWeb

that can monitor levels in all of

a farm’s water resources and

pressures in associated pumping,

water transfer and application

infrastructure. And then there

is a weather-monitoring service

to help a farmer plan and

manage for weather-dependent

activities, and a service for

monitoring and comparing the

brix content and general quality

of the fruit in horticulture

operations and packhouses.”

Key to maximising the potential

and benefits of every existing

and future precision agriculture

technology is having the

developers and suppliers of these

technologies be willing to partner

with central data management

platforms, like MyFarmWeb.

This negates the need for the

farmer to undertake the time-

consuming, laborious and often

confusing task of jumping

from one company’s website

to another’s to access, analyse

and interpret the relevant data

before being able to come to an

informed management decision.

Fortunately, most precision

agriculture technology

companies are willing to link

their products to a central data

management platform for the

benefitoffarmers,DeVriessays.

• PhoneErikdeVrieson
  021300 0543, email info@
  agritechnovation.co.za, or visit
  agritechnovation.co.za.


• This information is from
  a presentation at Laeveld
  Agrochem’s 2019 Seil Safari,
  held from 1 to 5 April. ▪FW

40 farmer’sweekly 30 August 2019