**1. Introduction**

Soil and water are essential resources for food production and sustaining human life. These resources are under pressure given the expansion of urban areas and the effect of climate change. Global food demand increases with population growth and improvement in the quality of life. The world must increase food production to feed more than an estimated 9 billion people by 2050 [1] with its limited arable land and natural resources. The advent of new technologies such as precision agriculture (PA) will significantly impact our ability to improve agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner on a global basis. PA is described as "the science of improving crop yields and assisting management decisions using high technology sensor and analysis tools" [2]. It is the art and science of utilizing advanced technologies such as global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), geographical information system (GIS), remote sensing, spatial statistics, and farm management information

systems (FMIS) for enhancing efficiency, productivity, and profitability of agriculture while reducing environmental pollution [3, 4]. Further, PA management coupled with genetic improvements in crop traits could play a vital role now and in the future in meeting global demands for food, feed, fiber, and fuel [5]. By adapting and managing production inputs within a field, PA allows better use of resources to enhance the sustainability of the food supply while maintaining environmental quality [6].

Currently, PA technologies are evolving at a relatively faster pace given the affordability of onboard computer power. It contains different types of new technologies, such as GNSS, sensors, geo-information systems, geo-mapping, robotics, and emerging data analysis tools. To evaluate crop health and performance *in situ* sensors, spectra radiometers, machine vision, multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing, thermal imaging, and satellite imagery are used by researchers and innovative farmers [7–11]. Undoubtedly, the idea behind using these technologies is to make farming systems more efficient, profitable, and sustainable. Sensing tools help in evaluating crop biomass, weed competition, nutrient status and soil properties, and provide valuable data required for site-specific management (SSM) [8].

Current field machinery has great potential to revolutionize PA due to its ability to collect more data at a higher resolution and offer an increased capacity for detailed management of crops [12]. These machinery can be operated with the help of navigation geographic information systems, which is a system that combines both GNSS and GIS systems [10]. This system includes components not limited to i) map display, ii) path planning, iii) navigation control, iv) sensor system analysis, v) precision positioning and data communication [10]. The use of auto-steering GNSS-controlled tractors optimizes path planning while reducing overlap. Mapdriven seeding operations facilitate matching plant populations and crop genetics with the soil landscape based on historical crop yield as assessed from yield monitor data. Further, the same historical yield data can be used to enhance nutrient management and irrigation scheduling, thereby simultaneously enhancing productivity and profitability for farmers. Modern agriculture has also coined the term "Smart Irrigation", which is essentially an Internet of Things (IoT) application in PA. The system senses soil moisture levels and manages irrigation scheduling in real time along with providing a record of field conditions and applied water to supplement farm management records [13].

PA tools can save farmers money as they enhance the efficiencies of commercial cropping systems [14]. Research conducted in the U.K. shows that a positive yield response over 20–30% of a 250-ha farm when using variable rate technology (VRT) to spatially manage nitrogen (N) management with concomitant increases in crop yield from 0.25 to 1.10 Mg ha−1 [15, 16]. Three years of study conducted by Longchamps and Khosla [17] showed that VRT can increase N use efficiency while simultaneously maintaining productivity and decreasing overall N introduction to the environment. Besides, PA reduces overall production cost while achieving at least equal crop yields when compared with conventional practices [18]. Variability driving the adopting of PA arises from variations in field topography, soil properties, soil nutrients, crop canopy, crop density and biomass, water content and availability, rainfall distribution, weeds, pest and disease infestations, tillage practice, crop rotation, and other factors [8, 19–22]. Low variance of soil parameters such as pH, phosphorus (P), or potassium (K) can be easily managed compared with substantial variations such as insect and disease infestation [23]. Variability within fields is typically measured by soil sampling, field scouting, physical measurements, soil survey, and yield monitoring [24]. However, the success of PA depends on the evaluation and management of spatial and temporal patterns in crop production. A graphical overview of PA technology is shown in **Figure 1**.

*Precision Agriculture for Sustainable Soil and Crop Management DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101759*

**Figure 1.**

*A brief diagram of precision agriculture indicates concerns due to spatial and temporal variability, possible solutions/importance of PA, and a set of technologies encompassing PA and decision support systems.*

Sustainable soil and crop management are essential to improve the sustainability of agriculture [25]. Researchers consider pursuing the aim of agricultural sustainability through precision farming [25, 26], sustainable intensification [27], climate-smart farming [28], and integrated soil management [29], and many more. However, to achieve this, the cumulative use of best management practices (BMPs) of the agroecosystems is required, where i) optimum utilization of resources will be ensured, ii) soil health and quality will be maintained, and iii) environment and social benefits will be guaranteed at present without compromising the future [30–33]. Several studies showed that PA technologies could ensure the best utilization of resources, reducing variable costs and increasing farm productivity and income concurrently while decreasing the environmental impact [24, 26, 34–36].
