Need for Precision Agriculture (1) In 1970, 190,500,000 ha classified as arable and permanent cropland in the USA Decreased to 187,776,000 ha by 1991. Irrigated land in the USA peaked at 20,582,000 hectares in 1980 and has been stable at 18,771,000 hectares since 1989. Trends suggest that cropland in the USA will not expand beyond the present 190,000,000 ha

Need for Precision Agriculture (2) Developing world: 760,000,000 hectares classified as cropland and could theoretically increase to 850,000,000 hectares. World population increases by 86 million people per year (235,000/day, World Resources, 1996). 33,000 people die each day due to malnutrition/starvation Cropland needed to feed the human population, if population growth stops and land is preserved, will be roughly 3.3 billion hectares, and likely to become limiting near the year 2050

Need for Precision Agriculture (3) Probability of bringing 3.3 billion hectares into production from the current 1.4 billion hectares is small (www.igc.org/millennium). A large portion of the lands considered as 'potentially arable' (e.g., increase from 1.4 to 3.3 billion hectares) include tropical rainforests and other lands that would require massive inputs for any kind of sustained crop production.

Need for Precision Agriculture (4) Unlikely that the total arable world land will increase beyond its present level Increased production per unit area will be essential. Applied precision agricultural production practices are timely and required within the developed and developing agricultural community.

Precision Agriculture? Human need Environment Hypoxia $750,000,000 (excess N flowing down the Mississippi river/yr) Developed vs Developing Countries High vs Low yielding environments

Continued success in wheat germplasm and technology dissemination worldwide depends on the free and uninhibited flow of genetic materials and information. Restrictions imposed on such movement due to intellectual property protection could have serious consequences on the ability of developing countries to sustain wheat productivity growth. …. further gains would have to come from specifically targeting breeding efforts to the unique characteristics of marginal environments