Prospects and strategies for precision farming in Japan

Precision fanning is bringing about a new revolution in agricultural farmin g systems with its high potential of reducing the environmental impact and increasing the productivity, based on the high efficiency of advanced techn ology. Variability management is the key approach in precision farming, usi ng field maps and real-time sensing for temporal and spatial variation in s oils, plant growth and yield, and other parameters related to cultivation. Site-specific field management can be implemented based on accurate informa tion. Scale-foe precision farming approaches are suitable for small-scale J apanese agriculture. Prospects and strategies for Japanese precision farmin g are introduced, followed by the results derived from investigations on so il mapping and the use of soil sensors.