precisionag.colostate.edu/.../kansas_state_inteview_102215.mp3

Eric: This week on "The Campus", as part of the K State research and extension annual conference, a special session was held on new precision technologies for agricultural decision making.

And the program was led off by, an individual who's very well steeped in this area, a professor of precision agriculture, out of Colorado State University, Raj Khosla.

Raj, you had some things to say about the application of precision agricultural technologies for smaller scale farming and we'd like to get into that,

but you pointed out that a lot of the driving force behind precision agriculture has to do with climate smart agriculture. You might explain that term.

Raj: Thank you Eric. You know we have been farming for hundreds of years.

The way we have farmed has fed millions and billions of people.

However, as we look into the future, as we add more people on to the planet, we need to produce a lot more than we have ever produced in our past.

And that requires a lot more resources, that goes into the production system.

The concept of climate smart agriculture, proposes that as we continue to produce more, we should be cognizant of the environment.

We should be good stewards of the land. I mean we heard about that growing up, right?

And climate smart agriculture, to put it simply, it's about increasing our production, enhancing our efficiency, increasing net dollar return,

back into our pocket and doing all of this with the smallest footprint on the planet.

Or simply put, how do we do more with less?

Eric: one of the central parts of that has to do with nitrogen applications in production agriculture. You really stressed that.

Raj: One of the reasons I stressed on the nitrogen application is because nitrogen is among the three most widely used macro nutrients on the planet.

Which are nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. However, as I phrased it in my presentation, our love for nitrogen.

We use nitrogen a lot more than we use any other input or nutrient in production systems on the planet.

And also, nitrogen is something that I work very closely with and hence, emphasized on the importance of nitrogen.

Having said that, if you look at how much nitrogen is being applied globally, verses, how much of that nitrogen actually translates into production of our crop.

We're talking about hovering around our best estimate is about 50% or less than 50%.

And so if I look at the total nitrogen consumption, which is north of 115 million tones globally in a particular year.

If you are consuming only 50% of that, that tells you that a very large portion of what we

have applied in our production system, will end up going into the biosphere.

Whether it goes into atmosphere, or whether it goes into the soil system. Whether it shows up in creeks, down the road or somewhere- it has been released into the biosphere.

It's not being used to produce corn grain.

Eric: and that can be an environmental concern then.

Raj: That's exactly right. I'm not saying or proposing that every farmer is over-applying.

In fact, we should be proud that the U.S. in particular, is one of the best nitrogen use efficiency on the planet.

However, we have one planet. You know, we need to make sure that this is something that is practiced worldwide and not just "more is merrier".

Eric: That's where precision agriculture, not only technologies, but techniques come into play.

Raj: Absolutely right Eric. You hit the nail right on the head.

Is that, yes we need to employ technologies to do our agriculture, however, if you look at the very basic principles and concepts of precision agriculture, they actually don't talk about technology.

The very basic principle consists of 5 R's. And what I mean by that, we're talking about application of right input, application of right time, application at the right place, application in the right amount, and application in the right manner.

When you bring these 5 R's together, in your operation, in your production system, within your resources, within the machinery equipment that you have in place.

When you bring these 5 R's together, that's when precision agriculture happens.

You are minimizing your inputs and you are maximizing your output. That's what precision agriculture's all about, in simple terminology.

Eric: Then how can those 5 R's be introduced into food systems globally, production systems? Is that an easy translation in other words?

Raj: You know, Eric, you used the word food systems, and that is very near and dear to my heart.

Let me tell you why. Because when we talk about agriculture and we talk about climate smart agriculture, in particular, that gives me an impression that the entire burden of fixing the system lies on the farmer.

Which is not true! Farmers are employed in the process of producing the food, right? But then that food has to be moved to the stores, off shore.

That involves a lot of energy. That involves a lot of people. That involves a lot of technology. That involves a lot of transportation.

Shouldn't they partially responsible for taking the burden?

So in my opinion, the right terminology should not be climate smart agriculture, rather climate smart food systems.

Eric: That said, as we look at the 5 R's, as we look at what techologies can be brought to bear, in countries that aren't as technologically advanced

or likely to be able to adapt to those, higher end technologies, can those precision agriculture principles still be achieved?

Raj: I think there's a lot of hope and promise, just last week I was in China.

I have had research experimentation in China since 2009.

In different farming scale environments and what we have found, is that in many of the fields where we have these on-going experiments,

we have been able to cut back our nitrogen application by up to 50% without impairing the grain yield.

By employing the principle of right input at the right time , at the right place, in the right amount, and in the right manner.

Eric: Raj, before we let you go, might bring it briefly back toward the domestic because you are certainly, extremely well versed in this area.

Questions about the application of precision agriculture technology in this country and the data. Big data is the big talk.

As you perceive the maturation of precision agriculture and the utilization of data, what are the challenges, what are the opportunities.

Raj: You asked me two very significant questions.

So let me start with one, in terms of where are we in terms of precision ag and its applications in the U.S.

In fact, Crop Life Media, and Purdue University together they have been mapping the precision ag space with an annual survey for the last, at least 15 years or so.

The most recent report came out about a month back, and it looks promising.

The reason I say it looks promising is because at least in our environment, we rely on heavily on technology. We rely heavily on machinery,

and if you look at the trajectory of many of the techniques and technologies that are being used in precision agriculture, for example, auto guidance.

Or auto- steering, or auto-pilot systems. The most recent report shows north of 70 some percent, adoption and application among all the respondents that responded to the survey.

And that's a phenomenal number. You go back to early 2000, that number was close to 1 or 2%.

However if you look at the sensing technology, it's still at about 10%.

So we have a long ways to go in terms of continue to make our agriculture more productive, more efficient, more profitable and doing all of that in a sustainable manner.

You asked me another question about big data and agriculture is obviously being in the mix of the big data equation.

And because I've been practicing or learning about precision agriculture for about the last 20 years, previously we, as scientists, used to say

"Hey, you give me at least 5 years of data before I can give an answer to you. Or give me 7 years of data before I can answer your question."

And the interesting thing is, those 7 years have come and passed. We have the data.

The enigma is how do we translate that data into information so that a farmer can make a difference in his or her operation.

This is where Extension services, this is where land-grant universities have done so well for the last 150 plus years.

In terms of doing on-farm research, one trial at a time, testing it out thoroughly, before we extend it to the farmer.

Because for us, we're learning but for farmers their livelihood is on the line.

Eric: It's still a remarkably intriguing area, you shared several perspectives on it with us. Raj thank you, appreciate your time and your presentation here at Kansas State University.

Raj: Thank you so much.

Eric: He's out of Colorado State University, a professor of Precision Agriculture, Raj Khosla. And again he made a presentation at the special symposium at K State this week on New Precision Technologies for Agricultural Decision Making.