0:00:01.259,0:00:05.893
Good morning everybody and thank you for [br]extending me this opportunity to participate

0:00:06.168,0:00:10.754
in this international panel discussion on [br]big data in agriculture.

0:00:11.674,0:00:13.935
Now precision agriculture consists[br]of 5 R's.

0:00:14.415,0:00:18.199
Application of right input, at the right[br]time, in the right place, in the right

0:00:18.457,0:00:20.137
amount and in the right manner.

0:00:20.800,0:00:24.807
When you bring these 5 R's together,[br]that's when precision agriculture happens.

0:00:25.550,0:00:31.009
For farmers to be able to make decisions,[br]based on spatial and temporal variability

0:00:31.377,0:00:35.935
in their fields mandates quantification [br]of this variability.

0:00:36.609,0:00:40.202
Meaning they need to know how much[br]variability exists in their fields, where

0:00:40.448,0:00:45.254
does that variability exist in their [br]fields and what is the cause of variability.

0:00:45.752,0:00:49.260
If it can be managed with precision [br]application of inputs.

0:00:49.892,0:00:56.424
This desire to quantify variability in our[br]fields and farming operations has really

0:00:56.939,0:01:01.492
led to the collection of data, and I[br]mean a lot of data.

0:01:02.722,0:01:08.243
Here is an example that illustrates how [br]many data layers a famer may potentially

0:01:08.696,0:01:10.681
collect during a crop growing season.

0:01:11.443,0:01:16.455
He may start with a map of soil variability, [br]with soil electroconductivity, at

0:01:16.850,0:01:18.069
shallow and deeper depth.

0:01:18.922,0:01:25.304
He may come back with soil sampling [br]for nitrates, organic matter, sand silt and clay.

0:01:26.428,0:01:30.757
Likewise, for the purpose of water[br]management, mapping soil water

0:01:31.060,0:01:32.750
content using soil sensors.

0:01:33.600,0:01:38.145
Multiple times during the growing season [br]create data layers as well.

0:01:38.601,0:01:43.991
For the purpose of crop health, farmers [br]are using NDVI data many times during

0:01:44.378,0:01:48.642
the growing season to capture how [br]green their crops are.

0:01:49.067,0:01:53.378
Likewise, how well are equipment [br]doing with as applied data.

0:01:54.212,0:01:58.758
There is an opportunity that exists for[br]farmers to look at lead distribution data,

0:01:59.084,0:02:04.130
infestation data, how high the crops are[br]during the growing season.

0:02:04.951,0:02:10.592
In addition there are many other data[br]layers all the way down to the yield maps.

0:02:11.442,0:02:17.404
What you see here now is one farm field[br]in one crop growing season where a farmer

0:02:17.744,0:02:20.739
can collect millions and millions[br]of data points.

0:02:21.376,0:02:24.462
And hence the term "big data" in[br]agriculture.

0:02:25.628,0:02:30.722
It is one thing to be able to collect so[br]many data layers, but how do we process

0:02:30.722,0:02:36.195
this data. And how do we analyze this data? [br]Interpret this data? Integrate this data to

0:02:36.505,0:02:39.516
bring them together and create [br]this big picture together.

0:02:39.771,0:02:44.630
To translate this data into meaningful[br]information that farmers can use to

0:02:44.971,0:02:46.116
make better management decisions.

0:02:46.729,0:02:50.940
So that we could meet or exceed the [br]four goals of precision agriculture.

0:02:51.732,0:02:57.211
Which are to increase production, increase[br]efficiency, increase profitability of

0:02:57.531,0:03:01.324
farming operations and doing all of [br]this in sustainable manner.

0:03:02.441,0:03:06.248
In closing, I would like to add, though [br]that precision agriculture is a

0:03:06.631,0:03:07.601
relatively new discipline.

0:03:08.342,0:03:12.692
Yes we have the technology that can[br]deliver what we want, when we

0:03:13.024,0:03:14.168
want, and where we want.

0:03:15.021,0:03:21.677
But my question is, "do we really have the[br]science to take advantage of all these

0:03:22.011,0:03:23.840
data layers that we're now collecting?"

0:03:24.653,0:03:29.395
I think we have a long ways to go and a lot[br]of work needs to be done to really make

0:03:29.828,0:03:35.379
precision agriculture site specific, locally [br]adaptive, operationally feasible,

0:03:36.139,0:03:37.128
scale independent.

0:03:37.692,0:03:40.622
That means it can be practiced on small [br]scale farming systems and large

0:03:40.950,0:03:41.874
scale farming systems.

0:03:43.805,0:03:46.053
And above all, economically affordable. [br]Thank you.