Ever since 1992, Silsoe College has been carrying out precision agriculture studies in partnership with several companies, especially with AGCO Corporation. The Soil Survey and Land Research Centre works on the evaluation and development of software and sensors, remote sensing with green area sensor (chlorophyll) to apply herbicides and fertilisers, digitised aerial pictures, and the management of animal and human waste. There is also a department of prototype and construction, for new inventions such as palm oil and lavender pickers.

During the visit, the Paranaense agronomists visited the project of a grain truck for sugar beet, with a load cell that does the mapping while on the truck. They saw that it was possible to verify the strength of the tractor at a given point where the plough was used in order to find out soil resistance and compacting levels. The stems of a subsoiler are being used to check soil compacting depth. They also saw tests with infrared sensors for protein, impact sensors for productivity, and electro-conductivity sensors to measure the humidity of grains.

Great importance is being given to a system of data recording and keeping, given that European consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about product traceability. Therefore, it is important to make all information available in a database, thus avoiding the use of papers, mostly regarding environmental laws. Precision agriculture already provides maps that show the position, applied chemicals, seeding and planting, fertiliser application, soil and harvesting maps.

Another project developed in Silsoe is the hay picker that measures the quantity of dry material per square metre, for product traceability. If different amounts of dry material per square metre are harvested, it will also be necessary to apply different quantities of fertilizer. This system shows how much product was harvested, which makes billing easier. The production information is stored on the computer, which issues a report.

There is also a precision onion planter that uses variable rate. Due to a shortage of water (bulbs are smaller where water is lacking), the area is mapped for texture and water availability, and variable rate is used for planting. More plants are placed in more humid places; drier areas receive fewer plants. This kind of seeding has improved productivity and increased profitability by 8.6%. More important than the production per hectare is the supply of the greatest quantity of bulbs with the customer’s required diameter.

For seven years, Silsoe researchers have been using a soil sampler with the Fieldstar system, with an electromagnetic scanner that measures the soil for texture and water. The equipment, which is still being tested, is only precise where the soil has equal amounts of water. With cereals, researchers are developing precision agriculture systems for nitrogen, population, and harvest, beginning with productivity maps already used in Brazil.

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