NOVIAGRI New applications of vegetation indices in agriculture
Context
The NoviAgri project aims to provide tangible, practical answers to address the following issues:
1. health in the agricultural workplace;
2. protection of the environment;
3. consumer demand for increasingly healthy agricultural products free of chemical residues.
Within this scenario, the need to rationalise the use of protective chemical products in order to increase the effectiveness of treatments, reducing the impact on the environment and minimising costs, is emerging among agricultural operators in the wine sector.
These elements represent the general problems with regard to which operators in the winegrowing sector have urged Consorzio Barbera d’Asti to carry out a collective action to verify the existence of low-cost and easily applicable technological and/or organisational solutions.
Goals
The various goals of the project refer to the control of diseases in the vineyard by managing treatments and formulating control protocols.
Activities
The NoviAgri project aims to fulfil the following goals:
- Implementation of a prototype sprayer machine featuring automatic management of distribution;
- Implementation of a smartphone app;
- Creation of a DSS (Decision Support System) to recognise plants infected with flavescence dorée and esca in the vineyard
Description of innovation
The aim is to design and implement a sprayer capable of adjusting the main distribution parameters (opening/closing off-target nozzles, nozzle flow rate, spray direction, and fan flow rate) so as to optimise product distribution on the basis of the structure (TRV, tree row volume) and presence/absence of vegetation. Specifically, an on-board computer will manage the basic operation of the machine (working pressure, litres/hour, volume/ha or TRV) on the basis of real-time data relating to the volume of the canopy and in relation to the data entered by the winegrower (type of passages between rows, height, wall thickness and space between rows). Optical or lidar sensors will also provide the on-board computer with the information needed to control the opening and closing of the nozzles, the regulation of the flow rate and the direction of the spray, simultaneously managing the pressure at the remaining nozzles, so as to keep the solution applied consistent. The air flow of the fan will be entrusted to a series of diaphragms to be fitted manually on the machine as and when required, designed to adapt to the various phases of growth of the canopy according to the model developed and suggested by the App. There are also plans to develop a system for dosing the solution upstream of the nozzle (direct injection). This would make it possible to avoid unnecessary waste that always occurs with pre-packaged mixtures inside the main tank and left over at the end of the treatment. At the end of the treatment, the winegrower will be able to download and view geo-referenced distribution parameters related to the treatment via an App.
Partners
Lead partner
Consorzio Barbera d’Asti e Vini del Monferrato
Fabio Teodo
f.teodo@viniastimonferrato.it
VASSALLO DELFINO & P. SRL
Emanuela Vassallo
e.vassallo@vassallo-delfino.it
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari (DiSAFA) – Università degli Studi di Torino (UNITO)
Fabrizio Gioelli
fabrizio.gioelli@unito.it
CSP – INNOVAZIONE NELLE ICT s.c.a.r.l.
Paolo Mollo
paolo.mollo@csp.it
GREENSHARP SRL
Federico Barone
f.barone@greensharp.it
SPEZIA SRL
Giancarlo Spezia
giancarlo.spezia@tecnovict.com
P. A. Giacoppo Salvatore
Salvatore Giacoppo
giacoppos@libero.it
BERSANO VIGNETI SRL SOCIETA’ AGRICOLA
Filippo Mobrici
filippo.mobrici@bersano.it
Michele Chiarlo SRL
Stefano Chiarlo
s.chiarlo@chiarlo.it
NOVELLI SIMONE
Simone Novelli
nove.simo@gmail.com
AZIENDA AGRICOLA QUASSO MARCO
Marco Quasso
Cyber_one@virgilio.it
AZIENDA AGRICOLA DOMANDA DI DOMANDA ELEONORA
Eleonora Domanda
info@vini-domanda.it
AZIENDA AGRICOLA LAIOLO DAVIDE
Davide Laiolo
info@vinilaiolo.com
AZIENDA AGRICOLA BARBERO ENRICO
Enrico Barbero
enrico@barberoscavi.com
Azienda Agricola Ivaldi Dario di Ivaldi Andrea
Andrea Ivaldi
info@vinivaldi.it
CASCINA REY DI MONTICONE MONICA
Monica Monticone
monicamonticone@gmail.com