Rio Grande do Sul expands network of meteorological stations

In operation since 2019, the Agroclimatic Monitoring and Alerts System (Simagro) of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development (Seapdr) is expanding the network of automatic stations for agroclimatic monitoring and development of specific products for the agricultural sector of Rio Grande of the South. By the end of 2023, the State's own network will have 100 agroclimatic data collection points. “This will bring very robust monitoring to Rio Grande do Sul”, guarantees Seapdr meteorologist, Flavio Varone.  

“The idea is to generate specific products for the agricultural sector, based on this information. We will generate indices for diseases that affect the main crops such as grapes, soybeans, olive trees, among others”, explains Varone. According to him, all stations are installed in producing areas, directly in the field, to carry out direct monitoring on rural properties and thus establish the climatic conditions that are prevailing at the moment and define the environmental needs that crops need to reestablish their normal development.

The Simagro project aims to establish a close relationship with the agricultural sector in Rio Grande do Sul, where Seapdr provides the station, and the producer provides a structure to fix the equipment and internet to send the collected data. The producer/partner accesses his property's data in a free application, and information for all seasons is available on the simagro.rs.gov.br website.

In the future, Varone projects a denser network, with a station installed every 50 kilometers within the Rio Grande do Sul territory.