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Abstract: Precision agriculture or farming comprises a set of technologies that combines sensors, information systems, enhanced machinery, and informed management to optimize production by accounting for variability and uncertainties within agricultural systems. The digital farm is a uniquely complex system, involving interactions among multiple factors over many time and space scales. The goal of this paper is to establish a foundation for research and education focused on solutions to current and emerging challenges of wireless sensor network (WSN) in digital farm domains with heightened requirements for reliability, security and performance. The gap between capabilities and the ability to safeguard information assets must not be ignored, given the documented rise in the number and sophistication of threats and the broadening vulnerabilities of WSN applications and systems worldwide. In addition, a framework of security approach for dataflow in precision agriculture is discussed.

Keywords: precision agriculture, privacy, food security, wireless sensor network, data security, encryption

1. Introduction

Precision agriculture comprises a set of technologies that combines sensors, information systems, enhanced machinery, and informed management to optimize production by accounting for variability and uncertainties within agricultural systems. Currently, the annual percentage increase rates for crop yields are only half those required to meet human food needs in 2050. Simultaneously, key resources like water and fertilizer are overapplied due to inadequate data regarding agronomic conditions [7]. To avoid a major disruption in food supply we need new, highly adaptive crop management systems that conserve scarce resources and protect the environment, while generating global wealth and food security by optimizing agricultural practices, including crop inputs, to yield the greatest net return.

WSN for monitoring crops is a growing and emerging field that infuses wireless technologies, security, policy, infrastructure and the integration capabilities of the United States and global agricultural systems. WSN will help farmers to monitor effectively to rural and remote areas where expert (instruction) is seriously or even totally lacking[l,2,3]. WSN monitoring and automated data have the potential to provide more convenience for farmers.

For more than thirty years, precision agriculture has been envisioned measuring field characteristics and plant performance with surface, subsurface, and aerial sensors, generating spatially-resolved management plans for sowing, chemical application, and irrigation, and executing those plans with variable application rate farm machinery. However, despite its history,...

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