Improved fertiliser, soil and water management can significantly reduce climate gas emissions, while maintaining similar yields and reduce production costs: a typical win-win.


know that sales rates for precision farming equipment are growing. However, we also know that many farmers buy these imple- ments as a long-term investment and not many are using all of the smart options.


10-15% from agriculture


Agriculture is accountable for 10-15% of all human induced climate gas emissions worldwide. Arable farming emits CO2 N2


and


O, which is a 300 times stronger climate gas than CO2


. In the Paris Agreement, many


governments made commitments to signifi- cantly reduce emissions to slow down the global warming process. Removal of climate gases implies the fixation of CO2


in plants


and soils. Managing soil organic matter is seen as an important option, as it (besides a positive climate contribution) also can have a positive effect on climate resilience, through creating a higher water holding capacity. Increased organic matter also make soils less vulnerable to erosion.


Variable rate fertiliser application can reduce fertiliser use by 10-30%, while maintaining productivity.


There are all kinds of measures in land man- agement that will significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that are emit- ted. The main source for N2


O is fertiliser, and


emissions are generally exponentially higher with increased fertiliser applications. All ni- trogen that is emitted is not available for the plants, so any action to reduce emissions


implies a higher fertiliser use efficiency – and hence an economic benefit for the farmer. Now here is an important role for precision agriculture, as this management strategy for arable farming involves the use of data and technology to improve, amongst other things, fertiliser efficiency, sometimes paraphrased as ‘growing more with less’.


▶ FUTURE FARMING | 25 May 2018 13


PHOTO: AMAZONE


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