Pedology, Precision Agriculture, and the Changing Paradigm of Agricultural Research

1997). New interdisciplinary approaches are needed to improve the understanding of complex interactions bePrecision agriculture (PA) has recently been defined by the U.S. tween multiple factors affecting crop growth and farm National Research Council as a management strategy that uses information technologies to bring data from multiple sources to bear on decision making. Unbiased, systematic and rigorous decisions associated with crop production. Soil information is imporevaluations of the economic and environmental benefits tant here, but current soil survey data do not satisfy PA requirements. and costs of agriculture are needed. New developments In this paper, the need for soil data in PA is discussed on the basis in precision agriculture need to be evaluated along the of Dutch research. Not only operational, but also tactical and strategic same lines. aspects are considered. On the operational level, soil data, including The advance of ICT is such that we may speak of a parameters derived with pedotransfer functions, support the use of paradigm shift in agricultural research and education simulation models to quantify dynamically soil water regimes, N trans(National Research Council, 1997). This paper adformations, and biocide adsorption. Real time “forward-looking” simdresses the question as to the implications of this paraulations incorporated in early-warning systems assist in operational digm shift for soil science. Soil science, and more specifidecisions on water, nutrient, and crop protection management. Backward-looking simulations, using historic weather data, can be used to cally pedology, is uniquely positioned to consider the evaluate different management tactics for exploratory strategic and behavior of different soils in a landscape. However, tactical purposes. Such simulations should balance production and the National Research Council (1997) concludes that environmental requirements. At the strategic and tactical level, assem“current soil surveys satisfy few of the soil data requirebled data on the performance of various farm management systems ments of PA. Soil data are not at the appropriate level should be grouped by soil series to build a systematic database, of detail nor are the indexes required by PA the same allowing “quick and preliminary” evaluations of the effects of farm as those provided by soil surveys”. This paper intends management strategies based on experiences obtained elsewhere on to analyse critically this statement and to illustrate the similar soils. use of soil survey information at strategic, tactical, and operational levels of PA in the Netherlands. Thus, procedures are presented to initiate a response to the recF DECADES agricultural managers have taken ommendations of the National Research Council ( 1997) advantage of new technologies to support them in for soil survey to define (i) data quality standards; (ii) the decision making process regarding farm managemethods for data collection, testing, and interpretation; ment and improving the economic efficiency of operaand (iii) procedures to access and archive data by pritions. The extent and rate of development in Informavate consultants. tion and Communication Technologies (ICT) is opening the way for significant changes in crop management and Information and Communication Technologies agricultural decision making. ICT has led to cropping in Soil Science and Pedology systems in which management operations are executed on a site-specific basis and with an increased temporal Soil surveys at different scales have been completed precision. This vision is reflected in the concept of preciin many countries and data have been assembled in sion agriculture, as recently defined by the National geographic information systems. The USDA Natural Research Council (1997): “Precision agriculture is a Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), with local and management strategy that uses information technology state agencies and land grant Universities, has been to bring data from multiple sources to bear on decisions generating soil information in the USA for a 100 yr. associated with crop production”. Although originally focused on the agricultural use of In Europe, where population densities are relatively soil data, the mission of NRCS is now a much broader high, a broad shift is being made from exclusive emphaone: “to help people conserve, improve and sustain our sis on production agriculture to multifunctional land use natural resources and environment” (Natural Resources in which various forms of environment-friendly agriculConservation Service, 1995). Of course, many primary ture are combined with many other functions, including data gathered in the soil surveys cannot directly be used transport, housing, and recreation. (Bouma, 1997a). for precision agriculture. Historically, soil characterizaThis shift, in combination with the accelerating develoption procedures had a strong taxonomic focus, leaving ments in ICT, has major implications for agricultural soil functional properties unattended. A relation to land research and education (National Research Council, use was only established in descriptive terms: relative suitabilities and limitations for major land use types were summarized for a given soil series. These include Lab. of Soil Science and Geology, Wageningen Agricultural Univ., non-agricultural forms of land use, such as forestry, campP.O. Box 37, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands. Contribution from the C.T. de Wit Graduate School of Production Ecology. Received 8 Oct. 1998. *Corresponding author (johan.bouma@bodlan. Abbreviations: ICT, Information and Communication Technologies; beng.wau.nl). GIS, geographical information systems; PA, precision agriculture; NRCS, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Published in Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 63:1763–1768 (1999).