ABSTRACT
PF, also called Precision Agriculture (PA) or site-specific crop management (SSCM), is an integrated information- and production-based farming system that is designed to increase long term, site specific, and whole farm production efficiency, productivity, and profitability while minimizing unintended impacts on wildlife and the environment (Earl et al., 1996). The basic principle of PF is to maximize the efficiency of the inputs as measured by the outputs, which is to optimize the inputs according to field variability in order to maximize the yields, diminishing production costs and environmental impacts of agricultural practices, by giving the right amount of input at the right place and the right time. In this sense, PF can relate to any agricultural production system and can be considered as the application of information technologies, together with production experience, to:
Optimize production efficiency
Optimize quality
Minimize environmental impact
Minimize risk
