Precision agriculture: sustainable ways to grow food

We live in a world that is rapidly changing. In some cases, change can be good and refreshing. In some others, rather the opposite. For example, the change of the surrounding climate can be a positive thing regarding many aspects. The different seasons that places around the world experience throughout the year can have a positive impact on animals and plants. They provide a cycle that can be adapted to, a balance, and a harmony.

Like in many instances, something that is good in moderation can become damaging when it gets out of control. The climate has always been changing, even from one extreme scenario to another. But this was happening over thousands of years while moving at a slow pace. Today’s climate change has shown that this pace has dangerously increased, becoming a real threat to the blue planet and all the wonders it supports.

Since the dawn of agriculture, societies have constantly tried to figure out ways to produce food more efficiently while reducing the use of resources and labor. With the rise of the population over the centuries, more soil area had to be used to meet the needs of the communities. This has brought some issues with it, though, since both deforestation and the usage of large areas of fields to grow food have contributed to the changing climate and global warming.

Innovative changes have to be made to meet the needs of not only the people but also the planet. Without a properly functioning planet, humans will also be compromised in their abilities to live and exist harmoniously. The awakening of multiple issues does not necessarily mean that we do not have any time left yet. What it does mean is that we have to take action and actively seek new solutions and ways to live on this planet in consonance with the surrounding environment.

Numerous innovative groups of people have already spent many years trying to find solutions for the problems climate change has brought with it. Sectors such as agriculture have not only been heavily impacted themselves, but at the same time have also managed to contribute to the rise of the issues.

The Earth has the ability to heal itself, but we have to work alongside it and support this process without sabotaging our own future and that of all existing life. Sustainable ways of living can be one of the more innovative ways to realize such support. Sustainable agriculture has been in the talks for many decades now, but there is not one single way it can be put into action. New ideas, modifications, and progressions are constantly made in this field.

Precision agriculture

One example of sustainable agriculture is called precision agriculture, which uses innovative technology in order to manage the crops efficiently and reduce waste while increasing the smarter use of resources. In order to collect, process, and evaluate high-resolution spatial and spectral data for site-specific crop management, precision agriculture with AI and drones combines unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) outfitted with complex sensors and cameras with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms.

With the use of this strategy, farmers may transition from standard, all-purpose methods to data-driven choices that maximize inputs like water, fertilizer, and pesticides, increasing sustainability and yields. Due to the reduced weight, reduced cost, and increased payload capacity of UAVs, in the last ten years, the use of precision agriculture has expanded rapidly.

One application type of precision agriculture is the use of soil and crop sensors. There are a number of different sensors that can be used in this process. These sensors are characterized by their different areas of usage: soil sensors and crop and plant sensors. Various innovative kinds of soil sensors are out there that can help determine the quality, state, and fertility of the soil.

Soil sensors

Dielectric soil moisture sensors measure soil permittivity to guide variable-rate irrigation and prevent under- and over-watering. Electrochemical sensors quantify soil pH and key nutrients, allowing real-time fertilization and reducing leaching. Mechanical sensors assess soil compaction, enabling tillage operations and root health management. Temperature and humidity sensors monitor microclimate conditions in open fields and greenhouses, enabling climate-controlled irrigation, ventilation, and frost protection strategies. These sensors help in ensuring crop health and productivity.

Crop and plant sensors

The use of crop and plant sensors assists in the calculation of a crop’s health, growth, and quality. This category includes the optical, hyperspectral, LiDAR, and biosensors. Optical sensors capture light in various bands to detect chlorophyll levels, nutrient deficiencies, and water stress early.

Hyperspectral and multispectral imagers on drones or tractors produce detailed maps for crop species differentiation, disease diagnosis, and biomass quantification. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors generate 3D canopy models for variable-rate seeding, fertilizer application, and harvest planning. Biosensors and plant-wearable devices detect biochemical signals, enabling early disease and pest detection for spot treatment and reducing blanket pesticide use.

Precision agriculture in the Guadalquivir Valley of Jaén

The efficiency of precision agriculture can be seen in various real-life examples. In the Guadalquivir Valley of Jaén, Spain, growers have deployed a network of soil-moisture sensors to improve water savings and oil quality. The network measures volumetric water content, soil temperature, and electrical conductivity, with data uplinked via LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) to a regional gateway every 30–60 minutes. This technology allows wide-range communication in rural areas and over significant distances in urban environments while being low-energy, allowing sensors to operate for years on a single battery.

Studies found that water use decreased by nearly one-fifth without compromising yield, and higher phenolic compounds improved oil stability and sensory quality, leading to better market prices. Growers set crop-specific moisture-depletion thresholds, and automated alerts trigger SMS or mobile-app notifications when zones dip below these thresholds. Integration with SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)-controlled valves allows semi-automated, variable-rate irrigation.

What does this mean for the farmers? SCADA systems are vital for industrial organizations, enhancing efficiency, facilitating data processing for informed decisions, and reducing downtime. They process, distribute, and display data, enabling operators to analyze and make crucial decisions. For instance, a high error rate in a batch can prompt an operator to identify and resolve the issue.

Results of studies that looked at the application of these technologies showed improvements in annual irrigation volume, oil yield, and oil phenolic content. The return on investment was approximately three years, with 92% positive feedback from growers. Water use dropped by nearly one-fifth without compromising yield, and higher phenolic compounds improved oil stability and sensory quality, commanding better market prices. Payback on sensor hardware and software subscription was achieved in roughly three seasons.

Andalusian olive growers are now piloting trunk-diameter sensors to track sap flow and water stress, leaf-wetness sensors for early detection of Olive Quick Decline Syndrome, and machine-learning models that fuse drone-derived NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) with soil data for precision fertilization.

The effects of technology-based farming

Precision agriculture addresses various agronomic, environmental, and economic challenges. Resource use inefficiency is caused by uneven water application, which leads to drought stress and water waste. Precision irrigation and variable-rate fertilization can cut water and nutrient use by up to 20-30% while maintaining or boosting yields. The environmental impact is minimized by targeted spraying, lighter robotic platforms, and optimized field passes, which minimize chemical drift, soil damage, and CO₂ emissions. Pest and disease management is improved by multispectral imaging and in-field biosensors, enabling spot treatments that cut pesticide volumes by 50-70% and limit resistance buildup.

Labor and operational costs are reduced as well by using autonomous robots and GPS-guided machinery, which streamline scouting, planting, and spraying, reducing labor hours by 30% and fuel use by 10-15%. This does not necessarily mean that farmers are losing their occupations, but rather that they are taking on other responsibilities and managing their crops from a different perspective. It is important to know that such technologies still need human support to ensure safety and efficiency.

Climate variability and risk management are also being actively placed in the problem-solving area of focus of the different methods. Cloud-based analytics fuse multi-source sensor data into actionable dashboards. Precision agriculture transforms farming into a finely tuned system, driving sustainability, profitability, and resilience.

In order for humans to face a better and more promising future, we have to convey—among others—the ways we consume and produce our food. Agriculture methods that are more efficient and sustainable can not only help the planet in the fight against climate change but also achieve a resolution in other issues.

The benefits of sustainable farming extend beyond the field gate and include social well-being, economic resilience, and human health. Sustainable agriculture can and already does establish a food system that feeds people today while preserving resources for tomorrow’s generations. The important factor here is to create a balance between ecological stewardship and profitable and equitable methods.

What does the future hold?

There are many more ways that include sustainable farming, which have already been put into action. Such are organic farming, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, and water-efficient irrigation techniques. A joint use of different effective methods can have a crucial impact on the ways we consume food, and not only that. Because combining approaches often leads to more holistic, sustainable, and innovative solutions. The combined use of various effective methods creates a multifaceted, reinforcing system that improves how we produce, distribute, and consume food. It drives sustainability, shapes behavior, and delivers benefits beyond just food—impacting health, economy, and the environment.

At the beginning of this article, it was mentioned how everything around us is changing and evolving, including the built environment around us. The halt of this process is long out of reach, since it has started expanding on its own and is almost unstoppable. The answer to our problems, hence, would be to work with the changes and realize a solution that can exist in such an environment, while simultaneously serving the needs of the population and the natural environment. An assembly of answers for all of planet Earth. One step at a time, humanity could be able to achieve such a goal. Some key components, such as connectedness and group effort, can be a glimpse of hope in this ever-changing world.