The role of precision agriculture in food security

Precision agriculture (PA) is the application of information technology to better manage crop and livestock production, heralded as another tool to advance food security around the world. Precision agriculture has the potential to increase productivity, improve resource allocation for inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers, water, feed, and labor, provide for more stable production, and reduce agricultural production\u27s environmental effect. But PA is an approach that can be very different depending on farm characteristics, such as crops and livestock raised, farm size, management, the farms’ access to technical support, and the characteristics of the operator such as age and education. As a result, the adoption of PA has been slower and less uniform compared with some other agricultural innovations. Modern PA management systems are rarely implemented on small low-mechanization farms, which comprise much of the world\u27s agricultural production, and these farms are common in areas of the world that are the least food secure. And like other farm technology, its benefits go primarily to its adopters and society as a whole, but those who do not, or cannot adopt are left at a relative disadvantage, which unfortunately at present are most farmers around the world. Food security\u27s four main principles according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are food availability, access, utilization, and stability. Precision agriculture has an aspect unlike its predecessor innovations that were primarily production related–because it is based on information, it has the capacity also to better inform and to allow adjustment all along the food supply/demand chain

Knowledge assets in services across industries and across time

AbstractThis paper explores the question of whether knowledge assets are more developed in services industries than in non-services. The concept of the “knowledge economy” has always gone hand-in-hand with growth in the percentage of the economy represented by services. Two multi-year, multi-industry datasets are used to directly compare the knowledge asset levels in service industry firms against those in non-service industry firms. Service industries do, indeed, reflect higher levels of intellectual capital in recent years, but did not do so a decade ago. Further, there is considerable evidence of changes in specific service and non-service industries over the time period, adding details to the finding that knowledge development is not static but does vary over time and circumstance. These results open up a number of promising research directions that could lead to a better understanding of the nature of these differing circumstances and how better strategic choices might be made regarding investments in knowledge management

Leveraging ICT for Collaborative Decision Making in Global Customer Support

Advances in technology have allowed organizations to expand beyond traditional walls of a centralized office. Dispersed locations allow organizations to reduce cost, hire employees where expertise exists, and conduct operations world-wide 24 hours a day 7 days a week. One challenge facing organizations with a dispersed workforce is how knowledge is shared and subsequently applied to decision-making. This paper focuses on how information and communication technology (ICT) facilitates collaborative decision-making among dispersed employees in a customer support organization. While the research is in progress, we propose a model concentrating on social and technical factors that affect ICT usage and in turn affect collaborative decision-making efficiency and decision effectiveness. Results of this research will contribute important findings regarding collaborative decision-making applicable for both practitioners and researchers

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities in the Precision Agriculture Workforce: An Industry Survey

Precision agriculture encompasses a set of related technologies aimed at better utilizing crop inputs, increasing yield and quality, reducing production risks, and enabling information flow throughout the crop supply and end-use chains. As agricultural businesses invest in precision offerings, their capacity to provide these products and services will depend on their ability to hire and retain employees with appropriate proficiency as defined in their knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). A 2015 survey of agricultural retailers examined the minimum educational requirements retailers were seeking in their hires, along with the importance of a list of KSAs for the various positions that they customarily fill. The positions included equipment operators, sales specialists, technical support, and agronomists. The KSAs included specifics, such as the ability to install, calibrate, troubleshoot, and repair equipment; knowledge of precision agriculture software; and also more broad skills such as effective written and verbal communication and in making agronomy recommendations. As expected, retailers expressed different educational minimums and different levels of importance for various positions. Overwhelmingly, the retailers indicated difficulty in finding qualified candidates and a predominance of candidates with low or deficient proficiency in areas they rated important. The survey was accomplished using email lists from both CropLife and the Certified Crop Adviser program

Is the Custom Service Industry\u27s Role in Precision Agriculture Linked to Workforce Development?

Retail dealership survey data suggests that the lack of a qualified precision agriculture (PA) workforce limits the ability of the PA service industry to provide technological knowledge and services to producers who have adopted PA technology. The key empirical findings suggest that retail dealerships have the greatest difficulty finding workers who have, a) the capability to operate and collect data using specialized PA technology, b) the capability to interpret and develop management strategies using PA generated data, and c) a basic generalized competency in PA technology and its applications. The perceived shortage of skilled workers suggests that there is a need to expand the PA workforce with individuals who have knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). A PA qualified workforce is necessary to provide support for the provision of PA services to current users of PA technology and new PA adopters

Influences of Wind and Snow on Northern Tree-Line Environments at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

The influences of wind and snow distribution at the tree line near Churchill, Manitoba, were studied. Wind profiles above the snow surface, snow crystal size and quantity were examined during abrasion experiments with white spruce branchlets. For white spruce, the abrasion zone was evidently within 80 cm above the snow surface, and needle removal by abrasion was strongly influenced by branch age. Removal by abrasion of similar-aged needles was highest in new branches and declined with branch age up to 7 or 8 years, and then increased again with older branches. Trees that grew 80 cm in height in 7 or 8 years were successful in passing through the abrasion zone. In forest-tundra environments the matted forms of trees were snow covered early in winter and received little abrasion. Sparsely needled islands of trees were largely covered with snow at the base. More densely needled trees and some trees within woodlands were less exposed to abrasion. The blockage of air flow resulted in high-speed jets, which cleared out snow within a "horseshoe-shaped vortex" around the base of the tree. Both in much of the woodlands and in the open forest, snow abrasion was minimal or non-existent and snow load on the branches (qali), becomes the prevalent stress. During winter, a large proportion of the snowfall was initially blown off the exposed surfaces of Hudson Bay and the coastal tundra regions, into the woodlands, and eventually across the tree line and into the open forest. As the woodlands filled up with snow in mid-winter, the rate of snow accumulation in the forest increased from double to triple the snowfall. Variations in the rate of accumulation occurred with wind speed and direction. ...Key words: tree line, wind, snow, white spruce, abrasionL'influence de la distribution du vent et de la neige à la limite forestière, près de Churchill, au Manitoba, constitue le thème de cette recherche. On a étudié le profil éolien au dessus de la surface de la neige, ainsi que la taille et la quantité des cristaux de neige au cours d'expériences d'abrasion faites sur des petites branches d'épinette blanche. Pour cette dernière, la zone d'abrasion se situait de toute évidence dans les 80 cm au-dessus de la surface de la neige et la disparition des aiguilles par abrasion était fortement influencée par l'âge de la branche. La disparition par abrasion des aiguilles d'âge semblable était plus élevée pour les nouvelles branches et diminuait avec l'âge de la branche, jusqu'à 7 ou 8 ans, pour augmenter à nouveau avec les branches plus vieilles. Les arbres qui poussaient de 80 cm en 7 ou 8 ans réussissaient à traverser la zone d'abrasion. Dans les environnements de toundra boisée, les arbres aux formes tassées et enchevêtrées étaient couverts de neige tôt en hiver et étaient peu sujets à l'abrasion. Les îlots d'arbres aux aiguilles clairsemées étaient largement couverts de neige à la base. Les arbres aux aiguilles plus fournies et quelques arbres de la forêt-parc étaient moins exposés à l'abrasion. Le blocage de la circulation d'air créait des courants très rapides qui soufflaient la neige en créant un tourbillon en fer à cheval au pied de l'arbre. Dans la plupart de la forêt-parc comme dans la forêt claire, l'abrasion par la neige était minime ou non existante et la charge nivale sur les branches (qali) était le principal agent de stress. Au cours de l'hiver, une grande quantité de la chute nivale était d'abord transportée par le vent, depuis la surface exposée des régions de la baie d'Hudson et de la toundra côtière, jusqu'à la forêt-parc, puis dépassait la limite forestière pour entrer dans la forêt claire. Comme la forêt-parc se remplissait de neige au milieu de l'hiver, le taux d'accumulation nivale dans la forêt passait du double au triple de la chute de neige. La vitesse et la direction du vent faisaient varier le taux d'accumulation. Durant le mois de mai, la fonte nivale se produisait d'abord dans la toundra et ruisselait en général sur la surface gelée. La fonte nivale se produisait environ 3 semaines plus tard dans la forêt claire et s'y caractérisait par une réduction du ruissellement, du fait que l'eau s'infiltrait plus facilement dans la tourbe en dégel. Les combes de neige tardives étaient caractéristiques de la toundra boisée de la forêt-parc et avaient généralement disparu au milieu de juillet. La forêt-parc était libre de neige pendant 1 mois et demi à 2 mois au cours d'une année, alors que la forêt claire était libre de neige durant environ 3 mois et la toundra pratiquement libre de neige durant au moins 6 mois.Mots clés : limite forestière, vent, neige, épinette blanche, abrasio

The Custom Service Industry\u27s Role in Precision Agriculture Adoption: A Literature Review

This literature review focuses on the role of the precision agriculture (PA) custom services industry in facilitating farmer adoption of PA technology. Based on the review, a series of stylized facts are developed that characterize the custom services industry\u27s role in the PA adoption process in the United States. The literature suggests that increasing the availability of custom services in local agricultural production markets will positively influence the rate of PA adoption. Recent PA custom services industry field surveys, however, indicate that skilled labor, proficient in PA technology, is critical to develop and provide custom services needed to increase the supply of PA services to farmers. These surveys suggest that currently there is a shortage of qualified labor to work in the PA custom services sector. The PA labor issue appears to pose a potential barrier to the provision of PA technical training desired by customers, and the deployment of PA custom services to customers who have adopted or are considering the adoption of PA technology