Agriculture has been going through a lot more advances with various experimentations in modern farming technology. Though today the focus on the developments of modern technology in agriculture has changed to obtain smart and precision agriculture, previously it was motivated only to increase the agricultural production. Developed techniques and technologies such as ‘Green Revolution’, ‘White Revolution’, and chemicals have multiplied the yield, but have left negative impacts on the environment. These impacts have been extreme at some places and made the ground infertile; some places soil infertility can be reversed back if appropriate actions are taken immediately.
The world population is increasing, and land-use change is reducing agricultural land worldwide. This enforces the need to make the best use of available land for agriculture and maintain its fertility by sustainable farming practices. Sustainability in agriculture provides farmers with the capacity to support the production of an agroecosystem predictably. It provides environmental and economic stable circumstances on a site-specific basis. Modern farming technologies are aimed to preserve non-renewable resources that support profitable agribusiness and ecological management. Many startups are working to develop a complete farm management suite or solutions to manage multiple farming activities.
The development of modern technology in agriculture such as computational technology, remote sensing systems, field mapping and monitoring devices, and analysis tools are used for crop management, irrigation management, and soil management. These management practices are part of precision farming. As the environment is the crucial parameter for agriculture, it always has a high impact on agricultural production. The dynamic nature of weather and climate change, causing extreme weather and seasonal shifts are leading to yield loss, economic loss and food wastage. Modern farming technologies focus on reducing these impacts by knowing such events in advance and prepare for minimal consequences with risk management techniques.
Modern technologies in agriculture are focused on developing best management practices, solutions, strategies, values and products that will lead present agriculture towards sustainable agriculture. As sustainability is an issue of survival and broader than the concept of soil erosion and habitat destruction, there is a need for the development of new technologies and breakthroughs for sustainable endeavour. Modern farming technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), ML (Machine Learning), and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) have the potential to optimise usage of resources in the agriculture. The application of independent or integrated technologies in various farm management solutions is critical requirements for future agriculture abilities.