Opportunities and Challenges for Climate-Smart Agriculture

HARIJONO DJOJODIHARDJO1*3AND DESA AHMAD2 1Professor, Aerospace Engineering Department

2Professor, Smart Farming Technology Research Centre

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia *Corresponding Author, harijono.djojodihardjo@gmail.com

3also: Retired Professor, Universitas Al-Azhar Indonesia

Abstract: - Food security, poverty and climate change are closely linked. Climate-Smart Agriculture is a very

significant part of the solution for both Climate Change mitigation and Sustainable Agriculture. Agriculture has

much to contribute to a low emissions development strategy. Since in many countries agriculture provides a high

mitigation potential, Green House Gases (GHG) emissions reduction efforts must include agriculture. Climate-

smart agriculture is essential for building capacity, experience and guiding future choices, as well as smart

management of natural resources. Two aspects of Climate-Smart Agriculture will be discussed, macro and micro.

The macro aspect will elaborate policies and global efforts, while micro aspects will elaborate specific techniques

and technologies for the implementation of Climate-smart Agriculture. On the macro aspects, the objective of

global initiatives of the Global Alliance is to seek improvements in people’s food and nutrition security by helping

governments, farmers, scientists, businesses, and civil society, to facilitate climate change mitigation and efficient

use of natural resources. Initial action areas include knowledge, investment and enabling environment. In the

micro aspect, the use of aerospace technology and engineering analysis techniques to facilitate higher yields for

certain crop will be elaborated and exemplified. These techniques can provide data which the farmers can use to

monitor and to help determine yields of their farming products, through the provision of relevant satellite data.

Key-Words: - Climate-Smart Agriculture; Green Space Technology; Management of Natural Resources; Space

Environmental Observation; Space Technology; Wireless Sensor Networks

1 Introduction Food security, poverty and climate change are closely

linked and should not be considered separately. The

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change (UNFCCC) places a high priority on

agriculture. Climate-Smart Agriculture is a very

significant part of the solution for both Climate

Change mitigation and Sustainable Agriculture.

Agriculture can contribute to climate change

mitigation in three ways, avoiding further

deforestation and conversion of wetlands and

grasslands, increasing the storage of carbon in

vegetation and soil, and reducing current and

avoiding future increases in emissions from nitrous

oxide and from methane. Agriculture has much to

contribute to a low emissions development strategy.

In many countries it is agriculture and not industry or

transport that provides a high mitigation potential.

Any serious effort to reduce GHG emissions must

include agriculture. Major productivity gains are

possible given the large gaps between current yields

and the yields that are possible with improved inputs

and management while also promoting low GHG

emission options. Climate-smart agriculture offers

some unique opportunities to tackle food security,

adaptation and mitigation objectives. In addition,

agriculture played a central role in agriculture as a

means to poverty alleviation and to impose major

negative impacts that climate change is likely to have

on many parts of the world. Early action in climate-

smart agriculture has been considered to be essential

to build capacity, experience and guide future

choices.

It will be instructive, before delving to Climate-

Smart Agriculture, to define what is meant by smart

system. A smart system or product should facilitate

the interaction of the system with human beings, and

is able to adapt to the context of the user without

forcing the user to adapt to it. It may comprise one or

more of the following characteristics [1];

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o Ability to co-operate with other devices.

o Adaptability to learn and improve the

compatibility between its functioning and its

environment

o Autonomy, which implies that the device or

system can operate without interference from

the user

o Ability to interact with human through

natural interaction fitting human.

o Multi-functionality, which implies a single

product capable of performing multiple

functions, such as a modern mobile phone.

o Personality, which implies that the product is

capable to be proactive and perform the

properties of credible personality,

o Reactivity, which implies that the device can

react to its environment in a desired way.

Figure 1. Smart Quality Control, adapted from Barreiro et

al [1].

A smart system is capable to carry out an integral

approach, from sensing to acting, to carry out optimal

on-line control for performance or product quality

through smart sensing techniques, as exhibited in

Figure 1.

Then the objectives of the present work can be

outlined as:

1. To review international and UN-sponsored

initiatives in establishing climate-smart

resources management,

2. To identify supporting macro policies and

global initiatives in seeking improvements in

people’s food and nutrition security, and

3. To elaborate and exemplify specific

techniques and technologies for the

implementation of Climate-smart

Agriculture.

2 Climate-Smart Agriculture World agriculture has become considerably more

efficient in the past decades. Production systems as

well as crop and livestock breeding programs

improvements have resulted in a significant increase

of food production while increasing the amount of

agricultural land by just 10 percent. However,

climate change is expected to exacerbate the existing

challenges faced by agriculture [2].

Food security and climate change are closely

linked in the agriculture sector and that key

opportunities exist to transform the sector towards

climate-smart systems that address both. Climate

change threatens production’s stability and

productivity. Climate change is expected to reduce

productivity to even lower levels and make

production more erratic [3]. Preserving and

enhancing food security requires agricultural

production systems to change in the direction of

higher productivity and also, essentially, lower

output variability in the face of climate risk and risks

of an agro-ecological and socio-economic nature. In

order to stabilize output and income, production

systems must become more resilient, i.e. more

capable of performing well in the face of disruptive

events. More productive and resilient agriculture

requires transformations in the management of

natural resources (e.g. land, water, soil nutrients, and

genetic resources) and higher efficiency in the use of

these resources and inputs for production.

Transitioning to such systems could also generate

significant mitigation benefits by increasing carbon

sinks, as well as reducing emissions per unit of

agricultural product.

Accordingly, both commercial and subsistence

agricultural systems need transformations, subject to

significant differences in priorities and capacity. Key

concerns are increasing efficiency and reducing

emissions, as well as other negative environmental

impacts. In countries where agriculture is critical for

economic development [4], smallholder systems

transformation is important for food security and

poverty reduction. Here productivity to achieve food

security is clearly a priority, which will contribute to

a significant increase in emissions from the

agricultural sector in developing countries [5]. A

concerted effort to maximize synergies and minimize

tradeoffs between productivity and mitigation should

be carried out to achieve the necessary levels of

growth on a lower emissions trajectory. To meet

these challenges it is essential to ensure that

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institutions and incentives are in place for climate-

smart transitions, in addition to adequate financial

resources.

Two aspects of Climate-Smart Agriculture will be

discussed, macro and micro. The macro aspect will

elaborate policies and global efforts, while micro

aspects will elaborate specific techniques and

technologies for the implementation of Climate-mart

Agriculture. On the macro aspects, global initiatives

that have been the objective of the Global Alliance to

seek improvements in people’s food and nutrition

security by helping governments, farmers, scientists,

businesses, and civil society, as well as regional and

international organizations, to adjust agricultural

practices, food systems and social policies to

facilitate climate change mitigation and efficient use

of natural resources will be discussed. Priorities for

action have to be identified to maximize such

improvements, commensurate with the needs and

priorities of members. Three initial action areas can

be identified: knowledge, investment and enabling

environment.

In the micro aspect, the use of aerospace

engineering analysis techniques to facilitate higher

yields for certain crop will be elaborated and

discussed. Such technique can provide data which the

farmers can use to monitor and to help determine

yields of their farming products. Such situation is

made possible through the provision of relevant

satellite data, such as those pertaining to terrain

heights, water‐level data, annual land crop records,

soil maps, meteorological data, and data from the

vegetation and soil scanners affixed to tractors, as

applicable. Climate-smart agricultural production

systems can be cited as examples.

3 Climate-Smart Agriculture Macro

Aspect One of the major challenges faced at present is

ensuring food security under a changing climate.

Using optimistic lower-end projections of

temperature rise, climate change may reduce crop

yields by 10–20 percent by the 2050s. Projections of price rises range from about 30 percent

for rice to over 100 percent for maize, due to climate

change [6]. Using a pessimistic high-end projection of

temperature rise, the impacts on productivity and

prices are even greater. Challenges in Green House

gases growth and global efforts for their Climate

Change effects can be appreciated by looking at

Figures 2a and b, reproduced from [5].

While the United Nations Framework Convention

on Climate Change (UNFCCC) can establish the

international policy framework for how agriculture is

incorporated into future climate agreements, much

policy development has to occur in national, regional

and continental policy arenas. At the national level,

adaptation plans and mitigation strategies, including

those related to reducing emissions from

deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing

forest stocks in developing countries are being

prepared. However, as noted in a recent analysis,

strategies and actions for agriculture remain very

general. Strategies to fully incorporate agricultural

adaptation and mitigation into climate change

strategies need more tangible, detailed measures that

build on existing efforts and are calibrated to local

conditions. Several macro issues which can be

translated to actors in the fields are required, such as

Strategies and Incentives for Climate Smart

Agriculture, Early Policy action in Climate Smart

Agriculture and Financing Climate Smart

Agriculture.

The Global Alliance for Climate-Smart

Agriculture was launched at the UN Climate Summit

2014 on 24th September as a concerted efforts toward

Food Security for 9 Billion People by 2050 [7]. It

covers more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe

and Latin America, and more than 35 organizations.

It is a voluntary, farmer-led, multi-stakeholder,

action-oriented coalition committed to the

incorporation of climate-smart approaches within

food and agriculture systems. The Global Alliance

will seek to improve people’s food and nutrition

security by assisting governments, farmers,

scientists, businesses, and civil society, as well as

regional and international organizations, to adjust

agricultural practices, food systems and social

policies so that they take account of climate change

and efficient use of natural resources. The Alliance

was established to acknowledge that food security is

the point of departure for climate-smart agriculture.

(a)

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(b)

Figure 2. (a) Total annual anthropogenic GHG emissions

(GtCO2eq / yr) by groups of gases 1970 – 2010: CO2 from

fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes; CO2 from

Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU); methane (CH4);

nitrous oxide (N2O); fluorinated gases covered under the

Kyoto Protocol. At the right side of the figure GHG

emissions in 2010 are broken down into these components

with the associated uncertainties indicated by the error

bars. Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion

are known within 8 % uncertainty (90 % confidence

interval). CO2 emissions have very large uncertainties

attached in the order of 50 %. Uncertainty for global

emissions of CH4, N2O and the F-gases has been

estimated as 20 %, 60 % and 20 %, respectively (adapted

from [5]). (b) Pathways of global GHG emissions

(GtCO2eq / yr) in baseline and mitigation scenarios for

different long-term concentration levels (upper panel) and

associated upscaling requirements of low-carbon energy

(% of primary energy) for 2030, 2050 and 2100 compared

to 2010 levels in mitigation scenarios (lower panel). The

lower panel excludes scenarios with limited technology

availability and exogenous carbon price trajectories

(reproduced from [5]).

The Global Alliance will enable governments and

other stakeholders to make these transformations in

ways that bridge traditional sectoral, organizational

and public/private boundaries. It will broker, catalyze

and help create transformational partnerships to

encourage actions that reflect an integrated approach

to the three pillars of climate-smart agriculture, as

well as synergies between them. The pillars include

sustainable improvements in productivity, building

resilience, and reducing and removing greenhouse

gases. The partnerships will inspire the development

and dissemination of innovative, evidence-based

options for climate-smart agriculture in different

settings, and will involve a broad range of

government and other stakeholders" [7].

4 Micro Aspect: Space Technology

Derived Climate-Smart Agriculture

4.1 General Observation Climate-Smart Agriculture seeks to increase

productivity in an environmentally and socially

sustainable way, strengthen farmers’ resilience to

climate change, and reduce agriculture’s contribution

to climate change by reducing greenhouse gas

emissions and increasing carbon storage on farmland.

Climate-smart agriculture includes proven practical

techniques, such as mulching, intercropping,

conservation agriculture, crop rotation, integrated

crop-livestock management, agroforestry, improved

grazing, and improved water management. Also

innovative practices such as better weather

forecasting, early warning systems and risk insurance

are required. In the macro aspect, it involves the

creation of and enabling policy environment for

adaptation. In the micro aspect, it involves the

availability of existing off the shelf technologies for

farmers and the development of new technologies

such as drought tolerant crops to meet the demands

of the changing climate [2, 8]. Sustainable

Intensification seeks to increase yield per unit of land

to meet today’s needs without exceeding current

resources or reducing the resources needed for the

future. Carbon sequestration is the process by which

atmospheric carbon dioxide is taken up by plants

through photosynthesis and stored as carbon in

biomass and soils.

Tremendous challenges are being faced by the global

agricultural system. UN FAO [10] projected that food

production must increase by 70 percent over the next

forty years to satisfy increasing demand due to

population growth and rising economic prosperity.

Figure 3. Projections for rising global demand for crops

and declining arable land per capita ([9], based on

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

projection).

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The main challenge of global agriculture is

meeting the rising demand of the growing population,

which is projected to increase from seven billion

people today to approximately nine billion in 2050.

However, the expansion of productive agricultural

land is limited, and in addition climate change may

pose further constraint.

Many factors will determine the food demand and

production in 2050, and the general trends suggest

that significantly more food will be needed while

facing climate change and diminishing resources

challenges. Climate change will pose a serious

challenge to the projections of rising global demand

for crops and declining arable land per capita, as

illustrated in Figure 3.

4.2 Space Technology Derived Instruments

to Facilitate Climate Smart Agriculture

4.2.1 Microradiometers Reveal Climate Change

Biospherical company’s Compact-Optical Profiling

System, or C-OPS, a new radiometer system product

devised by a NASA partner and enabled by a

promising technology for oceanographers and

atmospheric scientists alike. Color is a function of

light. Pure water is clear, but the variation in color

depends on the water’s depth and the constituents in

it—how far down the light penetrates and how it is

absorbed and scattered by dissolved and suspended

material.

A radiometer system on a platform with adjustable

buoyancy, C-OPS descends through the water,

making highly accurate measurements on the way.

Figure 4. An example of Space-Technology derived

Radiometer for Climate-Smart Applications [11].

The system is ideal for satellite calibration and

validation activities and for conducting research both

in shallow waters close to land and in deep waters far

out at sea. An example of such radiometer is

exhibited in Figure 4. Figure 5 illustrates the

technology and functioning of a smart sensor.

Ocean color can reveal about the health of the

ocean, and in turn, the health of our planet. It could

be related to the productivity of the water. The

seawater contains phytoplankton—microscopic

plants—which are the food base for the ocean’s

ecosystems. Changes in the water’s properties,

whether due to natural seasonal effects or human

influence, can lead to problems for delicate

ecosystems such as coral reefs. Ocean color can

inform researchers about the quantities and

distribution of phytoplankton and other materials,

providing clues as to how the world ocean is

changing. The technology is derived from NASA’s

Coastal Zone Color Scanner, launched in 1978, the

first ocean color instrument flown on a spacecraft.

Since then, the Agency’s ocean color research

capabilities have become increasingly sophisticated

with the launch of the SeaWiFS instrument in 1997

and the twin MODIS instruments carried into orbit on

NASA’s Terra (1999) and Aqua (2002) satellites.

The technology provides sweeping, global

information on ocean color on a scale unattainable by

any other means. The SeaWiFS instrument has been

collecting ocean data since 1997. By monitoring the

color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can

determine how successfully plant life is

photosynthesizing. This image represents nearly a

decade’s worth of data taken by the SeaWiFS

instrument, showing the abundance of life in the sea.

The instruments must be continuously calibrated over

time to maintain the quality of the data they gather

from orbit. To validate and calibrate the satellites,

researchers must also gather data at sea level.

Figure 5. An example of smart sensor. The Crossbow

motes (MICAz or Xbow), well know commercially

available Zigbee motes with sensor card (MTS 420) [1].

Table 1: Examples of sensor types and their outputs [12].

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A C-OPS configuration called ICE-Pro has been

used to gather measurements from boreholes drilled

deep into the Arctic ice. Also employing the core

microradiometer technology is Biospherical’s

Advanced Multi-purpose USB Radiometer, or

AMOUR. It is a high-speed radiometer that can be

plugged into a computer’s USB port like a mouse,

AMOUR provides a uniquely versatile tool for field

research. And through a 2008 joint project with

NASA, Biospherical created the only commercially

available satellite vicarious calibration and algorithm

validation system. Called the Optical Sensors for

Planetary Radiant Energy (OSPREy) system, it

employs microradiometers and other instruments on

multiple platforms to gather a comprehensive array

of oceanic and atmospheric information to compare

to satellite data. The adaptability of the Space

Technology spinoff technology benefits both

scientists and users [11, 13]. This technology can be

applied to multiple disciplines. An additional benefit

of the microradiometer is the fact that it is machine

made. The availability of technologies like

Biospherical’s microradiometer as providing the

means to create a baseline understanding of the rich

diversity of ocean ecosystems around the world,

many of which are unique. Biospherical has had

substantial commercial success with its spinoff

innovations, with significant export sales to

researchers in countries ranging from Poland to

Canada and China. Most recently, Biospherical

adapted its microradiometers to fly in aircraft,

conducting atmospheric research in partnership with

NASA’s Ames Research Center and demonstrating

that the limits of its NASA-derived technology have

yet to be reached, to adapt this technology to make

measurements that have not been made before [11].

Table 1 exhibits examples of sensor types and their

output.

4.2.2 Sensors Enable Plants to Text Message to

Farmers

NASA long researched sustainable food technologies

designed for space have resulted in spinoffs that

improve the nutrition, safety, and durability of food

on Earth. There are of course tradeoffs involved in

making astronauts part-time farmers. Any time spent

tending plants is time that can’t be spent elsewhere:

collecting data, exploring, performing routine

maintenance, or sleeping. As scarce as time is for

astronauts, resources are even more limited. It is

highly practical, therefore, as a by-product of

astronauts' space activities, astronauts act as part-

time farmers, which has to be ensured that farming in

space is as automated and precise as possible. The

relationship between plant leaf rigidity and its water

content, and whether such data could be directly

measured using sensors have been studied. Then a

prototype sensor is developed that measured

thickness by way of electrical pulses, taking

advantage of the relationship between plant leaf

rigidity and its water content, thus directly measuring

such data using sensors. Such sensor-based watering

could eliminate a significant amount of guesswork in

farming and free up time and resources that could be

applied elsewhere. The technologies should make a

closed ecological life support system more efficient.

With the sensors, healthy plants can be grown while

reducing water use between 25 and 45 percent

compared to traditional methods. The next step in

product development was to perform a field test on a

large scale. The test, though not terribly practical,

proved effective. For the first time in human history,

plants in a field are telling the farmer how much

water they had and when they needed more, contrary

to conventional plants irrigated using traditional

methods that had actually received more water than

was necessary.

4.2.3 Photocatalytic Solutions Create Self-

Clearing Surfaces

Photocatalysis is essentially the opposite of

photosynthesis, the process used by plants to create

energy. In photocatalysis, light energizes a mineral,

triggering chemical reactions that result in the

breakdown of organic matter at the molecular level,

producing primarily carbon dioxide and water as by-

products.

NASA has studied the benefits of photocatalysis

for purifying water during space missions, and plant

growth chambers featuring photocatalytic scrubbers

have flown on multiple NASA missions, using the

photocatalytic process to preserve the space-grown

crops by eliminating the rot-inducing chemical

ethylene. (The scrubber technology resulted in a

unique air purifier, featured in Spinoff 2009, now

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preserving produce and sanitizing operating rooms

on Earth.)

Photocatalytic materials studied as part of a

NASA activities were investigated for multiple

applications, including protecting infrastructures

against unexpected threats. The materials technology

developed has future promising application, not only

to keep surfaces clean, but potentially germ free. The

photocatalytic materials to provide benefits for down

to Earth applications, as well. Maintenance costs

associated with keeping buildings and facilities clean

requires high costs and efforts, and the photocatalytic

materials have been tested as a valid and potential

solution for reducing these maintenance costs.

Among the technologies selected for this purpose is

a new approach to titanium dioxide-based

photocatalysis. Titanium dioxide is a common

compound such as found in paint to suntan lotion to

food coloring, and acts as a photocatalyst when

exposed to ultraviolet light. Common methods of

incorporating titanium dioxide involve melting or

mixing the compound into building materials, or

applying it with solvent-based carriers like paint.

With these methods, however, the nanoparticles of

titanium dioxide clump together, reducing their

exposed surface area and thus their exposure to light.

Much of the compound ends up buried in the building

material, providing no benefit. A Space Technology

oriented company, PURETi devised a liquid-based

method of growing nanocrystals of highly

photoactive titanium dioxide, which are suspended in

a highly adhesive and durable water-based solution.

To study the effectiveness of the technology,

PURETi’s solution is applied to building surfaces

and monitored any changes through standard

photography as well as remote sensing technology

that measured the surfaces’ spectral reflectance—

how much they reflect light. The research showed

that the coated surfaces maintained the clean, white

state seen when they were initially painted, from an

analytical perspective, it was also demonstrated that

the surfaces that were photocatalytically coated

maintained higher reflectance values, when

compared to the uncoated surfaces. There is less dirt

build up on the photocatalytically treated surfaces

[11].

5 Example of Space Application

Derived Climate-Smart Agriculture

5.1 Sensor Data Used for Smart Farming Using aerospace engineering analysis techniques,

tests have been carried out at National Aerospace

Research Laboratory in the Netherlands (NLR) on

facilitating higher yields for the potato crop for the

farmers participating in the project. Although these

farmers know very well their land and crops,

information on how well their crop is growing using

such technology will be of interest. By reference to

data known on the crops during the previous month,

the farmer can use the aerospace engineering based

data to help determine the reasons behind the growth

deficiency, if any.

Figure 6. Fields of application of wireless sensor networks,

adapted from OECD [12].

In the Netherlands, the NLR Smart Farming

integrates freely accessible satellite data and other

data, such as satellite data from the Netherlands

Space Office (NSO), data pertaining to terrain

heights, water‐level data from the national water

agencies, annual land crop records, soil maps, drone

data, meteorological data, and data from the

vegetation and soil scanners affixed to tractors.

This massive amount of data is compiled in a web

application, wherein the information can be easily

accessed and compared. A combination maps, for

example, maps that combine the organic matter

content in a parcel’s soil and the health of the

vegetation, has been test-produced.

In this web application, agricultural advisers and

farmers can combine data to gain new insights. Such

SmartFarming efforts have been carried out by NLR

in cooperation with the province of Flevoland, the

Noordoostpolder municipality and LTO, and in

collaboration with SME companies from the region.

The optimum methods for using large, heterogeneous

data and imagery (big data) are still in the

experimental stage. Therefore the SmartFarming

project is carried out by NLR as part of SensorWorld,

an initiative to deploy sensors used in aerospace

engineering for other sectors, such as agriculture,

urban development, energy, and critical

infrastructure monitoring [14-16]. An example of

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fields of application of wireless sensor to user

network networks in a Climate-Smart system is

shown in Figure 6. This figure exhibits some of the

most important fields of application. The upper part

shows fields of application that have a high potential

to undertake environmental challenges and decrease

CO2 emissions, such as Climate-Smart activities. The

lower part shows other further interesting fields of

application.

5.2 Crops: Rice Production Systems Rice is fundamental for food security since about half

of the world population, with approximately three

billion people consume rice every day [2, 8],

including many of the poorest and most

undernourished in Asia. Approximately 144 million

ha of land is cultivated under rice each year. The

waterlogged and warm soils of rice paddies make this

production system a large emitter of methane. Rice

production is and will be affected by changes in

climate. Irregular rainfall, drier spells in the wet

season (damaging young plants), drought and floods

are all having an effect on yields. This has also caused

outbreaks of pests and diseases, with large losses of

crops and harvested products. Peng et al [17] have

analyzed 6 years of data from 227 irrigated rice farms

in six major rice-growing countries in Asia, which

produces more than 90 percent of the world's rice. It

was found that rising temperatures, especially at

night, cause a severe effect on yields which results in

losses of harvests in some locations in the order of 10

-20 percent. A number of methods and practices are

being adopted to face such challenges. One example

is adapted in the production by changing farm

management techniques, date of planting and

cropping patterns. Other method utilizes a more

integrated approach to rice paddy irrigation and

fertilizer application which was found to

substantially reduce emissions. The use of

ammonium sulphate supplements have also been

used to promote soil microbial activity and reduce

methanogens.

5.3 Crops: Conservation Agriculture Conservation Agriculture (CA) involves farming

practices with three key characteristics: (1) minimal

mechanical soil disturbance (hence no tillage and

direct seeding); (2) maintenance of carbon-rich

organic matter covering and feeding the soil (e.g.

straw and/or other crop residues including cover

crops); and (3) rotations of crops including trees

which could include nitrogen-fixing legumes. There

are currently about 8 percent of global arable

cropland worldwide, and the area increases by about

6 million hectares per year [18]. Global arable

cropland covers all agro-ecologies and ranges from

small to large farms. CA offers climate change

adaptation and mitigation solutions while improving

food security through sustainable production

intensification and enhanced productivity of resource

use. By appropriate management of soil fertility and

organic matter, and improvement of the efficiency of

nutrient inputs, production can be enhanced with

proportionally less fertilizers. Energy use and

emissions can be reduced by burning of crop

residues. In addition, it helps sequester carbon in soil.

Avoidance of tillage minimizes occurrence of net

losses of carbon dioxide by microbial respiration and

oxidation of the soil organic matter and builds soil

structure and biopores through soil biota and roots.

Conservation Agriculture also contributes to

adaptation to climate change by reducing crop

vulnerability. The protective soil cover of leaves,

stems and stalks from the previous crop shields the

soil surface from heat, wind and rain, keeps the soil

cooler and reduces moisture losses by evaporation.

CA thus offers opportunities for climate change

adaptation and mitigation solutions, while improving

food security through sustainable production

intensification and enhanced productivity of resource

use [19]. These are just a few illustrative examples of

Climate Smart Agriculture, which can be assisted by

the use of Space Technology derived monitoring

system and/ or technologies.

5.4 Precision Agriculture Wireless

Network Monitoring System A well-known and primary example of Space

Application Derived Climate-Smart Agriculture. A

field signals monitoring system with wireless sensor

network (WSN) which also integrated an SoC

platform (System on a Chip) and Zigbee (high-level

communication protocols used to create personal area

networks built from small, low-power digital radios)

wireless network technologies can be applied. The

designed system is constituted by three parts which

include field-environment signals sensing units,

transceiver module and web-site unit. The acquisition

sensors for field signals comprise an MCU as the

front-end processing device, and several amplifier

circuits to process and convert signals of field

parameter into digital data. A Zigbee module can be

used to transmit digital data to the SoC platform with

wireless manner (Lin et al [20 ]). An SoC platform is

used as a Web server to process field signals.

Advances in wireless communications technology

have come up with small, low-power, and low-cost

sensors. Accordingly, sensor networks can be

developed to construct and control these sensor

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nodes, which have sensing, data processing,

communication and control capabilities.

Collecting information from these sensor nodes is

routed to a sink node via different types of wireless

communication approaches.

Figure 7 shows the architecture of the wireless-

network monitoring system proposed by Lin et al

[20] that includes sensors unit, Zigbee transceivers,

an MCU, an SoC platform, and Web server.

Figure 7: A wireless field signals monitoring system

configuration possibility, reproduced from Lin et al [20]

Lin et al proposed a wireless sensor networks WSN

to monitor field signals for precision agriculture as

shown in Figure 8, in which every field was

considered as an interested area for the localized

algorithm in distributed fault detection.

Figure 8: Field signals monitoring system in the precision

agriculture based on wireless network and Internet,

adapted from Lin et al [20]

6 Opportunities and Challenges

Associated with Climate-Smart

Agriculture Offered by Other Novel

Technologies

6.1 Climate Smart Agriculture

Mechanization Using Robotics Challenged by the need for mechanized monitoring,

pruning, thinning, and even picking produce as

alternative to declining number of human workforce,

novel approach is to utilize available information

technologies through the use of more intelligent

machines to reduce and target energy. In addition,

such approach is capable to improve efficiency for

climate smart agriculture. A new generation of

equipment is available for climate smart and

precision agriculture. The advent of autonomous

system architectures gives us the opportunity to

develop a complete new range of agricultural

equipment based on small smart machines that can do

the right thing, in the right place, at the right time in

the right way [21]. Robotic agriculture is offered by

smart machines.

Figure 97. Example of Climate Smart Robotic

Application. (Left) Portal crop scouting platform; (Right)

Sub canopy robot ISAAC2 built by a student team from

Hohenheim University (adapted from [20]).

For example, driverless tractors have been

developed in the past but further improvements are

necessary to improve their capability to adapt to more

complex real situations and environment, much like

a production line. Smarter machines that are

intelligent to work in an unmodified or semi natural

environment are required. To cite an example, the

portal robot shown in Figure 9, has been extensively

modified and rebuilt and has been used to provide

automated crop surveys. A range of sensors have

been fitted to measure crop nutrient status and stress

(multi spectral response), visible images (pan

chromatic), weed species and weed density.

Other robotic applications may address crop

scouting, weed mapping, weeding, micro spraying,

irrigation, and selective harvesting. The present

discussion serves to illustrate a vision of some

aspects of automated crop production for enhanced

efficiency. The development concept and

incrementally progressive process may require a

paradigm shift in climate smart agriculture.

7 GPS Technology for Climate-Smart

Agriculture GPS technology already available in smartphones

may be utilized to determine when users should water

their crops by estimating how much water the plants

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are using each day and factoring in area rainfall

totals, via connection with the closest weather

station. Topographic map of potato crop performance

can be determined by using Arc GIS 9.3 software

[22]. Precision farming is a developed system of

agricultural management which includes

development of management’s technical system with

the centrality of knowledge and main objective of

profit optimization. One of the most effective

methods for obtaining and collecting the observations

in precision farming is the use of Global Positioning

System (GPS). Information obtained based on GPS

can be entered in Geographical Information System

(GIS) environment and carry out required processes

with other topographic data. Based on obtained

results, the crop yield is reduced by increasing the

soil compaction which means the tillage should be

done appropriately and unnecessary traffic of

agricultural machinery that increases soil compaction

have to be prevented [22]. This is just one example

of the utilization of GIS, Space Based Remote

Sensing data and GIS for climate smart agriculture.

By drawing topographic maps, data can be

compared with each other in a higher level of

precision and speed and the information from

different points of the field can be obtained which has

an important role in the management of precision

agriculture. Methods to generate information about

the resources, with an emphasis on how recent

innovations in remote sensing fit with sustainable

land management methods, and to assess resources

may be obtained by the use of remote sensing and

GIS. The use of remote sensing and GIS help

contribute in generating policy, providing

information and ensuring participation by all

stakeholders [23].

7.1 Drones for Climate-Smart Agriculture Relatively cheap agricultural drones with advanced

sensors and imaging capabilities are giving farmers

new ways to increase yields and reduce crop damage.

Drones, as exhibited in Figure 8, can be used to take

pictures and alert farmers to problems not visible

from ground level, like fungal infestations. For

farmers, however, the machines have the capacity to

serve as an important eye in the sky. Cameras

strapped to drones allow growers to closely monitor

their crops, root out pests and ensure that their water

is being used efficiently. This low-altitude view

(from a few meters above the plants to around 120

meters, which is the regulatory ceiling in the United

States for unmanned aircraft operating without

special clearance from the Federal Aviation

Administration) gives a perspective that farmers have

rarely had before.

Figure 8. An impression of Agricultural Drone / Smart

RoboFlight System images [23, 24].

Compared with satellite imagery, it’s much cheaper

and offers higher resolution. Because it’s taken under

the clouds, it is unobstructed and available anytime.

It’s also much cheaper than crop imaging with a

manned aircraft.

The economic benefits drones for climate smart

agriculture and its related and promising

opportunities can be deduced from the Statistics

given by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle

Systems International (AUVSI) 2013 Report [24]

which implied a market projection of more than

$13.6 billion in the first three years and $82.1 billion

between 2015 and 2025, and forecasted generation of

more than 34,000 manufacturing jobs, more than

70,000 new jobs in the first three years and an

anticipated 103,776 new jobs by 2025.

8 Summary: Challenges and

Opportunities in Climate-Smart

Agriculture The challenges and opportunities in Climate-Smart

Agriculture, as elaborated and discussed in previous

section, can thus be summarized as exhibited in Table

2.

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Table 2. Overall Thematic Summary of Climate-Smart

Agriculture.

9 Concluding Remarks Climate-Smart Agriculture, which is a very

significant part of the solution for both Climate

Change mitigation and Sustainable Agriculture, has

been elaborated to practical extent, and translated

into some of their constitutive elements. The

objective of the elaboration is to review the

overriding circumstances involving international and

UN-sponsored initiatives in establishing climate-

smart resources management, to identify supporting

global initiatives and macro policies in seeking

improvements in people’s food and nutrition

security, and accordingly, to exemplify specific

techniques and technologies for the implementation

of Climate-Smart Agriculture. Macro and micro

aspects of Climate-Smart Agriculture has been

elaborated to the extent that policy, smart-farming

technique and space technology derived techniques

and related ones can be outlined to provide insight

into their setting and benefits.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Universiti Putra

Malaysia (UPM) for granting Research University

Grant Scheme (RUGS) No.9378200, and the

Ministry of Higher Education Grants ERGS:

5527088 and FRGS:5524250, under which the

present research is carried out.

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