Economic viability of precision agriculture technologies for medium-scale wheat growers

Abstract:

From an economic angle, precision agriculture promises higher returns through input savings and yield gains, but whether the promise holds for medium-scale wheat growers (10-50 hectares) in India is far from settled. This research assessed the economic viability of five Precision Agriculture (PA) technologies, variable-rate seeding, GPS-guided fertilizer application, drone monitoring, yield mapping, and soil sensors, among 186 wheat growers in Karnataka and Gujarat during 2022-2023. A structured survey collected data on adoption costs, input savings, yield changes, and Benefit-Cost Ratios (BCR). The mean BCR across all PA technologies was 1.34, but this masked wide variation by farm size: BCR exceeded 1.0 (break-even) only above 15 hectares for most technologies. GPS-guided fertilizer had the highest adoption rate (22.3%) and best BCR (1.78), while drone monitoring had the lowest adoption (8.4%) and a BCR of only 0.92, reflecting high equipment costs. A logistic regression found that farm size, education, and access to extension services were the strongest predictors of PA adoption. These results suggest that PA is economically viable for wheat farms above 15 hectares, but smaller operations need cooperative or rental models to achieve positive returns.