Setting of a precision farming robotic laboratory for cropping system sustainability and food safety and security: preliminary results

Abstract

The acceleration of Digital Agriculture is evident through the increased adoption of digital technologies on farms including smart machines, sensors and cloud computing. In this paper we present the preliminary results of the research project funded by Università Politecnica delle Marche in 2018 “PFRLab: Setting of a precision farming robotic laboratory for cropping system sustainability and food safety and security”, which is still underway. In this context, as first result, an interdepartmental Research and Services Center called “Smart Farming” has been set up with the aim to strengthen multidisciplinary collaborations in the fields of Agriculture and Forestry, Geomatics, ICT and Robotics. Regarding field activities the SPAD 502 as well as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) provide a good estimate of the Chlorophylla+b content in durum wheat leaves so can be used to predict in a quickly and non-destructively way, the crop greenness status and to identify any nutritional deficiencies in real time. Future research activities are certainly needed to fully explore the potentialities of conservation agriculture and precision farming, and to drive the transition process from conventional agriculture to modern conservation agriculture and precision farming techniques. In-depth studies are planned on the combined effect of nitrogen fertilization and soil management on the main production variables of durum wheat in order to evaluate whether specific tools for precision agriculture applications can find significant diffusion even in Mediterranean cereal based cropping systems.

Evaluation of Soil Management Effect on Crop Productivity and Vegetation Indices Accuracy in Mediterranean Cereal-Based Cropping Systems

“…Regarding the relationships between VIs and N content (g m −2 ), soil management shows a significant effect, as reported by Orsini et al 2019a [ 66 ].…”

“…The experimental site is a part of a long-term experiment established in 1994 and is still ongoing [ 66 ] consisting of a rainfed 2 years rotation with durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum cv.…”

A Spectroscopic Approach to Evaluate the Effects of Different Soil Tillage Methods and Nitrogen Fertilization Levels on the Biochemical Composition of Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) Leaves and Caryopses

“…These approaches employ either digital measuring devices, which are able to estimate different parameters (i.e., chlorophyll/nitrogen status, soil plant analysis development (SPAD)) [10,11], or remote sensors, such as hyperspectral or RGB cameras mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles, which allow the creation of spatial maps of a wide range of plant metrics (i.e., nutrient status, growth vigor and biomass, water status, etc.) [12][13][14]. Although these methods have been successfully applied towards the investigation of the effects of both tillage methodologies and nitrogen fertilization [15][16][17][18], they lack the ability to provide a snapshot of plants' biochemical features, which have the potential to further refine current farming management strategies.…”

Nitrogen and chlorophyll status determination in durum wheat as influenced by fertilization and soil management: Preliminary results

“…The aim of this study that represents the preliminary result of the research project "Setting of a precision farming robotic laboratory for cropping system sustainability and food safety and security" [33] is to evaluate the effect of CA practices on the SPAD readings, leaves chlorophyll concentration and NNI relationship in durum wheat under Mediterranean conditions for which no data are yet available.…”