This article outlines the importance of precision agriculture, and why Gamaya’s range of precision farming solutions supplied through our leading remote sensing and hyperspectral imaging technology, as well as the benefits it can bring to our users.
Expenses on fertilizers and crop protection chemicals can typically account for 50% of the total seasonal expenses for industrial farming businesses, while the average losses of yield to disease and pests amount to 20%. Post-harvest on-farm losses, caused by harvesting at an incorrect stage of produce maturity, could range from 15% to as high as 40% of what is produced. All this makes a process of managing selling opportunity and sale price extremely difficult and hard to predict.Gamaya, a smart farming company, addresses above mentioned challenges by providing an integrated solution for large-scale diagnostics of fields and crops. We empower farmers to maximise their profits and ROI by enabling complete situational awareness on their land. Gamaya brings the benefits of hyperspectral imaging to precision farming applications in the trillion-dollar agricultural industry. Our airborne hyperspectral remote sensing solutions offer an effective method for large-scale farmland and vegetation monitoring and analysis.
Our unique service package (active for industrial commodity crops producers includes following informational products:
- Detection and diagnostics of disease, weeds and pests.
- Prediction of yield and crop growth monitoring.
- Nutrient deficiency diagnostics.
Early detection, diagnosis, and control of plant diseases
Hyperspectral remote sensing sees beyond the natural limitations of human sight, thereby enabling disease detection early in the crop growth cycle. Early detection enables quick and targeted responses. Hyperspectral remote sensing is less costly than human scouting and frees human labor to address issues rather than spending time looking for them.
Nutrient deficiency, diagnostics, and stress detection
Hyperspectral remote sensing facilitates the detection of environmental stresses—such as water shortage, extreme temperature, nutrient deficiency, etc—in crops and enables the creation of precise prescriptions of needed macronutrients Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (N, P, K).
Yield prediction and crop growth monitoring
Gamaya precision ag technologies enable early estimation of crop yield, biomass monitoring throughout the growth cycle, and development cycle monitoring, which collectively allow for optimal harvest planning. Some indices include NDVI, leaf area index, and leaf chlorophyll content.
Economic benefits
Proven benefits of airborne hyperspectral imaging monitoring and diagnostics of farmland include:
- Reduced chemical use due to optimum distribution of agrochemicals.
- Decreased weed and disease-related losses due to early detection and timely treatment.
- Reduced environmental impact.
- Higher quality and healthier produce.
- Better prediction and management of risks.
When remote sensing produces precise prescriptions for precision agriculture, yields increase and expenses for chemicals, fertilizers, and water decrease. This combination results in higher profit margins for farmers and agricultural producers. Gamaya hyperspectral imaging solution provides useful information that helps growers and agronomists make better, in-time management decisions.
Our field trials show that the average industrial corn producer can expect a return on investment (ROI) of more than 500%, which translates into solid economic benefits for users of Gamaya’s farmland analytics services.
How are results supplied?
Gamaya provides an integrated framework for large-scale airborne hyperspectral remote sensing for precision farming that consists of:
1. Farmland analytics for crops
At Gamaya we turn high-resolution, high precision aerial imagery data into maps of different problems across farmland parcels. We process information via our cloud-based system using machine learning and big data analysis techniques. The resulting detailed and accurate farm analytics maps and statistics include information about the distribution of particular crop health indicators, such as exposure to biotic and abiotic stresses.
2. Prescriptions, recommendations and predictions
Our analytical framework provides practical information about areas of your farmland experiencing abiotic and biotic stresses, which you can use to create prescriptions for agrochemical and fertilizer treatments. Our forecasting services predict yield and biomass and monitor the development and growth cycles.
3. Online platform for actionable results and machine integration
The output is delivered in maps for visual assessment, in tables for advanced statistical analysis, and in formats readable by precision agriculture machinery. These different formats are available via an online platform and a mobile application, allowing you to integrate with your farm management software or manage data directly from the field.
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First publication date: September 2020
Update, September 2021: Since the time of this article, Gamaya continues to boast a large portfolio of precision agriculture solutions for your crops. Alongside those listed above, more disruptive solutions have been added since, alongside continuous improvement amongst our pre-existing solutions.
