Geotechnologies

The use of geotechnologies is current in contemporary society. It is easy to note how electronic devices that connect with the global positioning system - known as GPS - have crossed the academic frontiers to reach and influence citizens' daily lives.

In the world today, geospatial information is used to generate location information, to guide better travel routes and even recommend public transport schedules. While the use of such tools is more and more disseminated in society, in agriculture and livestock, they are quite consolidated.

The Brazilian territorial extension and the diversity and complexity of its biomes are challenges for the knowledge and use of the domestic territory. Geotechnology, in turn, is a tool for intelligence, management, and territorial monitoring.

Nearly all agricultural planning and administration activities in national, regional, or local scales can benefit from the use of geospatial information. Maps and satellite images, for example, are used for the planning and management of resources available and in public policy.

Satellite images, digital maps, and geocodified databases are conjugated to map, manage, and monitor agriculture in different scales. Several procedures allow for the effective, quick, and precise detection, identification, characterization, quantification, and cartography of agricultural areas, their time dynamics, and their use of natural resources.

Embrapa

Embrapa uses geotechnologies in agricultural monitoring, intelligence and territorial management studies, precision agriculture, and other applications.

Moreover, the company follows the subject closely with the purpose of prospecting agricultural sector trends in Brazil and abroad, as it is considered a relevant tool for the corporation's strategic themes. That can be observed in the document elaborated by Embrapa's Strategic Intelligence System (Agropensa) with a prospective vision of the agricultural sector for the years 2014 - 2034. 

The use of the geotechnologies in agricultural research is one of the premises for intelligence and strategic territorial management, and can strengthen the sustainable development of Brazilian agriculture.