Fertiláqua provides guidance on Agriculture 4.0

Fertiláqua has been carrying out online broadcasts with representatives of its technical staff to discuss the main points of agriculture and assist producers with tips and guidance that, until then, were given in the field.

Another Live “DM em Campo” was aired, this time with the participation of experts Eduardo Cancellier and Lucas Geraldini and mediation by Fertiláqua’s development manager, Deyvid Bueno. The theme was Agriculture 4.0.

Opening the discussion, Lucas Geraldini, commercial manager at Taranis, explained the concept of Agriculture 4.0 and the path to reach the current moment. “It’s a broad concept, it’s everything that involves information technology applied to agriculture. It emerged based on Industry 4.0 – hence the name Agriculture 4.0 – and has the same objective as the movement, which is to apply process automation, modernization in information collection and use for management and decision-making within agriculture”.

According to the expert, the adoption of new technologies in agribusiness has been happening for some time. Some common technologies, such as GPS in tractors and harvesters, monitors, the ability to make applications at variable rates, are advanced and have a high adoption by producers.

Along with the advancement of technology, Agriculture 4.0 is gaining new capabilities, such as the in-depth analysis of each square meter of the property, using satellite images, which becomes important for competitive agriculture.

The satellite image follows the development of a crop over a period of time and, with this data, it is possible to analyze how the property in each area has behaved in relation to variability, above or below the average. “Understanding the problems, the needs for improvement and the right technologies to adopt during the harvest can be the crucial point for the producer to have positive productivity at the end of the cycle”, explained Geraldini.

Eduardo Cancellier, soil specialist and part of the Fertiláqua team that operates in the south of Brazil and Paraguay, brought to the participants a discussion about one of the main actions of agriculture 4.0, the NDVI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, translated from the acronym in English Normalized Difference Vegetation Index.

NDVI analyzes the condition of vegetation collected through remote sensing. It evaluates two characteristics of the plant: measured in Red (V) and Infrared (IR) wavelengths. One measure is associated with photosynthesis, activity and health, and the other with biomass vegetation cover. “Based on this result, the NDVI indicates how healthy the crop is. This index, which has been widely used, allows us to more assertively point out how the producer can reduce losses and increase productivity”, comments Cancellier.

One of the difficulties of NDVI is in relation to the assessment of areas with many clouds. “It is natural to have this type of barrier when taking a satellite image. There are some solutions such as: not using a single image, unless it is very clean, to make an application or make a decision; use more than one satellite source for images at different times, increasing the imaging frequency; and use sensors on aircraft to fly below the clouds and auxiliary maps”.

Geraldini also highlighted during the Live the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applied to agriculture. “The application is very broad. Many processes in agriculture depend on intelligence, from an autonomous tractor or harvester to the climate system that points out metrological problems or identifies problems based on the condition of your crop”.

To participate in the next lives, just access Fertiláqua’s profile on Instagram: @fertilaqua. The lives are also available on the YouTube channel youtube.com/fertilaquaoficial. And more information about the company's programs on the website: http://fertilaqua.com/.