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Sensor technologies for Precision Agriculture

Dr. Athanasios GertsisPERROTIS COLLEGE (www.perrotiscollege.edu.gr)American Farm School (AFS), Thessaloniki, GREECE

CAH Vilentum , Dronten, The Netherlands

July 2, 2014

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Contents

• Part 1. My view of Precision Agriculture and sensors

• Part 2. The contribution of PERROTIS COLLEGE to Precision Agriculture

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What we needed to do Precision Agriculture?

• Ca. 10 years ago….– The 3 required components of PA: Sensors, GPS

& GIS– Needed to establish Management Zones – MZ (…

if significant variability in soil or crop properties exists…)

– Lastly, use Variable Rate Technology for precise application of production inputs, based on predetermined MZs

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What we need to do Precision Agriculture in the near future?

• Rapid developments in cutting-edge technologies….

• The required component: Validated Sensors!• Validated crop-soil simulation models!• Long term ( to evaluate temporal as well as

spatial variability) validated financial results at “farmer’s pocket” and “soil-crop-atmosphere” level!

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What we need to do Precision agriculture…next?

• Latest developments……– UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) Drones or 4 or 6

or 8 Chopters, – equipped with multispectral & broadband cameras

– Ground located sensors (for “ground truthing”)– “On-the-go” systems , i.e. for N precision

fertilizations, herbicide on the spot, etc.– EZ-guide systems (GPS based sensors)– Robotics… harvesting automations!– Note: “Validated” means not just “calibrated”!

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Sample of “On-the-go” sensors commercially available for

Nitrogen precision application

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“On-the-go” systems currently available for N precision application

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Sample of “On-the-go” sensors commercially available for

Herbicide precision application

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WeedSeeker®is an automatic spot spray system that not only cuts weed-control costs by up to 90% and lowers labour costs, but also reduces the environmental impact of herbicide

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An NDVI weed map can also be created with the sensors and additional components

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UAV’s with sensor technologies

(special cameras)

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History highlights & achievements in PRECISION AGRICULTURE

at Perrotis College • 1st PA Workshop in Greece (2001)• 1st use of VERIS 3100 system for EC mapping (2002)• 1st wheat yield mapping in Greece (2004)• 1st application of PA in olives (2012)• 1st International Conference relating PA and the new CAP in

EU (2013)• BSc (Hons) degree in PA specialization –globally unique

program – from1998 (as a 2-year program) and from 2010 as a BSc(Hons) program

• Conferences –seminars-workshops –farmer training• Awarded by the President of Hellenic Republic and the

Ministry of Rural Development & Foods, for the innovations & contribution to the Greek agrofood sector, through the PA program

• … Photo section follows….

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29 June 2001: The first workshop on Precision Agriculture in Greece (at Perrotis College-American Farm School, Thessaloniki)By the NESPAL team of the University of Georgia-USA (Dr. C. Kvien and Dr. G. Vellidis)

Dr. Gertsis -13 years younger!

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BOOK OF ABSTRACTS available atwww.perrotiscollege.edu.gr

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Establishment of Management Zones

Use of the software:• MZA (Management Zone Analyst software) • Surfer 8 (Mapping software)• Manifold (GIS software)- Quantum GISUse of sensors:• Trimble GreenSeeker™ for NDVI• Prochek ™ for Vol. soil water, ECa and Temp.• HH2 and WET for Vol. soil water, ECa and Temp.• MINOLTA SPAD 502 for relative leaf chlorophyll

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Fields in AFS – May 2002

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( …this is not a disk harrow!!!)

Disk arrays for measuring ECa at two depths (30 και 90 cm)

Global Position System -GPS

VERIS 3100 Soil ECa system

4122.9898 22.99 22.9902 22.9904 22.9906 22.9908 22.991 22.9912

90 cm

40.5656

40.5658

40.566

40.5662

40.5664

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70

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22.9898 22.99 22.9902 22.9904 22.9906 22.9908 22.991 22.9912

30 cm

40.5656

40.5658

40.566

40.5662

40.5664

American Farm School Campus - May 2002Clay loam soil ( 0.8 ha) May 2002 AFS

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ΠΕΡΙΦΕΡΕΙΑΚΟΣ ΠΟΛΟΣ ΚΑΙΝΟΤΟΜΙΑΣ ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΗΣ ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΙΑΣ

Soil ECa maps created with VERIS 3000 system (area 12 ha at the AFS).

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Cotton yield monitors and Console

Trimble Differential GPS

Spatial Management System (GIS)

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A simple set of sensors-dataloggers and Geostatistical sftware used to establish Management Zones for PA:

1. HH2 datalogger and WET sensor (for spot readings at soil surface)2. Decagon soil moisture sensor and datalogger (for continuoyw readings)3. Dell palm PC equipped with a GPS 4. A Geostatistical software for mappring and statistical analysis of data collected

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Set of 4 Field balances (5000 kg capacity each) for yield monitor validation

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The wheat field (24 ha) and grain harvester equipped with yield monitor (June 2004)

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Award to Dr. Athanasios Gertsisby HE The President of Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias

October 16th, 2013

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Thank you!

Good luck for the FIFA 2014 World cup to

The Dutch Team!