How Smart Fertilizers Are Revolutionizing Precision Agriculture

A smart fertilizer can be described as a type of bio-composed nanomaterial, which contains nutrients and has the capability to release those components on demand by the farmers. The smart fertilizers allow a controlled deployment of nutrients and other composites to the soil. Smart fertilizers allow farmers to control various factors related to the release of nutrients, like timing of deployment, rate, and duration of nutrient release. Similarly, precision agriculture is referred to as the science which helps to improve the yield of the crops, while maintaining the sustainability of the farm activity. Precision agriculture uses multiple technologies, like sensors, and analysis tools to offer assistance to the farmers, in improving the yield of the crops, using lower fertilizers, and other composites.

The smart fertilizers generally consist of nano-fertilizers, in the form of powder or liquid, and are delivered to the plants as per the command. These nano-fertilizers involve the synthesis of nutrients at the nanoscale and offer multiple benefits like increased crop yield, and cost-efficiency. These types of fertilizers are also one of the most sustainable fertilizing solutions, which are drought resistant. The smart fertilizers offer several benefits to the farmers in increasing the crop quality and yield. The nutrient release timing of these smart fertilizers can be modified to suit different categories of crops, and it also offers adaptive features to improve the yield. Smart fertilizers also offer a lower environmental impact and cost efficiency.

Precision agriculture is among the latest concepts in the agricultural industry, which aims to improve the sustainability and yield of the agricultural sector, with the use of technologies. Precision agriculture helps farmers to reduce operational costs, by reducing the use of multiple agricultural components, like fertilizers, water, and labor costs. The introduction of smart fertilizers in the precision agriculture sector is estimated to revolutionize the global agricultural sectors. In the global agricultural sector, multiple technologies of precision agriculture, like sensors, can control the deployment of fertilizers, boosting the yield of the crops.

The use of smart fertilizers in the precision agricultural sector is sure to offer greater benefits to the farmers, as compared to the traditional system. Some of the key applications of smart fertilizers in the precision agriculture sectors are as follows:

1. Offers improved results even in drought-like scenarios.

One of the major benefits of smart fertilizers in the global precision agriculture market is their improved and wide-range application in the regions which generally have lower availability of water for farming. Precision agriculture, with the integration of smart fertilizers, offers a much lower consumption of water when compared to the traditional farming categories, and it offers greater crop yield with improved quality of production. The major advantage of smart fertilizers is that they can be modified and designed to release pesticides and nutrients at fixed intervals, reducing the need for water by farms. Similarly, precision agriculture technologies help farmers monitor crop status and help deploy components when needed, reducing the wastage of water in the farmland.

The increasing prevalence of droughts across the globe is among the biggest challenges for farmers across the globe, which reduced the total agricultural production, and also reduced the quality of crops. The use of smart fertilizers, embedded with the precision farming technique is expected to boost the crop yield while reducing the usage of water. The National Integrated Drought Information System of the US government stated that in September 2023, about 31.7% of the total US land was affected by drought. The organization further stated that about 15.1% of the total area was affected by an abnormally dry category of drought, whereas moderate drought was prevalent in about 12.1% of the area. Severe and Extreme drought was affected in 10.2% and 6.9% of the land respectively, whereas exceptional drought was prevalent in 2.5% of the total affected land.

Figure 1:  Categories of Drought-Affected in USA, Percentage, September 2023

Source: National Integrated Drought Information System

2. Increase in the popularity of sustainable agriculture

Similarly, the growth in sustainable agricultural activities across the globe is also expected to expand the market demand for smart fertilizers in the precision agricultural sector. The use of precision agricultural techniques, allows the farmers to integrate new technologies, and procedures as per the change in the environmental conditions. Precision farming integrated with smart fertilizers, also helps in reducing the cost of agricultural operations, as it reduces the use of components used for farming, like reducing labor costs, and fertilizers costs. It also improves the sustainability of the farmland by reducing the use of water in agricultural areas.

With the decrease in global agricultural land, the demand for more sustainable farming techniques, which can offer an improved yield of the crops, is expected to grow. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its report stated that the total number of farms and farmlands in the US has witnessed a constant decline, over the past few years, with an increase in the demand for agricultural products. The organization stated that in 2021, the nation had 1,959,550 farms, which reduced to 1,900,650 farms in 2022, and 1,894,950 in 2023. Similarly, the total land in farms also decreased from 888,800 thousand acres in 2021 to 879,660 thousand acres in 2022. In 2023, the total area of farmland in the nation was recorded at 878,560 thousand acres.

Key Developments

• In April 2024, Nitricity Inc., a global producer of nitrogen fertilizers, announced the launch of its field trial of its new low-emission, climate-smart nitrogen fertilizer, on the almond trees in California.

In conclusion, the application of smart fertilizers in global precision agriculture offers multiple benefits to the farmers, as it helps in improving the yield of the crops, and also reduces the operation cost of the agricultural activities. Smart fertilizers also reduced the use of fertilizers in the sector, while offering a greater production and quality of crops compared to traditional fertilizers.