Exploring the Potential of Remote Sensing to Facilitate Integrated Weed Management in Smallholder Farms: A Scoping Review

Abstract

In light of a growing population and climate change compounding existing pressures on the agri-food system, there is a growing need to diversify agri-food systems and optimize the productivity and diversity of smallholder farming systems to enhance food and nutrition security under climate change. In this context, improving weed management takes on added significance, since weeds are among the primary factors contributing to crop yield losses for smallholder farmers. Adopting remote-sensing-based approaches to facilitate precision agricultural applications such as integrated weed management (IWM) has emerged as a potentially more effective alternative to conventional weed control approaches. However, given their unique socio-economic circumstances, there remains limited knowledge and understanding of how these technological advancements can be best utilized within smallholder farm settings. As such, this study used a systematic scoping review and attribute analysis to analyze 53 peer-reviewed articles from Scopus to gain further insight into remote-sensing-based IWM approaches and identify which are potentially best suited for smallholder farm applications. The findings of this review revealed that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are the most frequently utilized remote sensing platform for IWM applications and are also well suited for mapping and monitoring weeds within spatially heterogeneous areas such as smallholder farms. Despite the potential of these technologies for IWM, several obstacles to their operationalization within smallholder farm settings must be overcome, and careful consideration must be given on how best to maximize their potential before investing in these technologies.