Articles
Smart processing tomatoes cultivation: precision irrigation system using DSS and LoRaWAN technology
Article number
1445_47
Pages
339 – 346
Language
English
Abstract
Processing tomatoes represents one of the main agro-industrial cultivations for Italy, main European country to produce such product, and for Puglia Region, southeastern Italy.
For this crop, irrigation is a fundamental agronomical technique to reach sustainable yield and improve the quality of the crop.
Since water is a limited resource in the Mediterranean basin and both water and energetic costs have rapidly increased in past few years, the use of systems to optimize the water management plays a crucial role.
Furthermore, the possibility of automating irrigation operations in the different lots of the field represents an important factor for saving human labor.
The experimental activity was carried out during the 2023 season, in the Torremaggiore countryside (FG, Puglia region), one of the areas with the highest concentration of processing tomato cultivations.
In a commercial field, the farmer’s ordinary management was compared to the “smart” one supported with the use of sensors.
The application of soil sensors together with the use of DSS (decision supporting systems) was adopted in order to monitor the soil water potential; the valves were managed via a LoRaWAN technology to automate the opening and closing of irrigation according to the soil conditions in each phenological stage.
Physiological parameters were monitored on the plants together with data collected with a drone (for NDVI and GNDVI indexes); at harvest yield and quality data were collected and recorded.
The results achieved in this first season highlighted how the “smart” management system either enabled significant water savings (12%) compared to the farmer’s ordinary management or saved money and human labor with positive impacts on environmental and economical sustainability of the farm.
For this crop, irrigation is a fundamental agronomical technique to reach sustainable yield and improve the quality of the crop.
Since water is a limited resource in the Mediterranean basin and both water and energetic costs have rapidly increased in past few years, the use of systems to optimize the water management plays a crucial role.
Furthermore, the possibility of automating irrigation operations in the different lots of the field represents an important factor for saving human labor.
The experimental activity was carried out during the 2023 season, in the Torremaggiore countryside (FG, Puglia region), one of the areas with the highest concentration of processing tomato cultivations.
In a commercial field, the farmer’s ordinary management was compared to the “smart” one supported with the use of sensors.
The application of soil sensors together with the use of DSS (decision supporting systems) was adopted in order to monitor the soil water potential; the valves were managed via a LoRaWAN technology to automate the opening and closing of irrigation according to the soil conditions in each phenological stage.
Physiological parameters were monitored on the plants together with data collected with a drone (for NDVI and GNDVI indexes); at harvest yield and quality data were collected and recorded.
The results achieved in this first season highlighted how the “smart” management system either enabled significant water savings (12%) compared to the farmer’s ordinary management or saved money and human labor with positive impacts on environmental and economical sustainability of the farm.
Authors
L. Tedone, S. Pascuzzi, G. Ferrara
Keywords
decision support systems, soil sensors, water saving, yield, quality
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