Dyed irrigation water to study the impact of freshwater on bivalve aquaculture in the Delta
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GOPHYTOVID: Optimisation of the use of plant health products based on plant vigour maps
January 11, 2022The Agricultural Machinery Unit (UMA) of the UPC is coordinating the national project Smart Spraying for Sustainable Vineyards and Olive Trees (PIVOS). The aim of the project is to demonstrate the benefits of smart spraying of plant health products for sustainable use of pesticides in vineyards and olive trees. These benefits include maintaining biological efficacy and reducing economic and environmental costs.
New technologies in the application of plant health products have had a low impact in comparison with the technology that is available for commodity crops. As a result, the high amount of plant health products used, the high risk of contamination and the additional operating costs are the main aspects that characterise the protection of these high value crops.
In this context, the PIVOS project will develop new technologies that will help to improve the process of applying plant health products, through a new smart system of management of the spraying. First, the vegetation will be characterized in a smart way through ground and aerial sensors in the crops. A protocol will be developed to obtain prescription maps of the volume to be applied and the volume of air, which can be used to automatically adjust the quantities to apply. Finally, the results obtained will be tested in the field for validation and quantification of the benefits at agronomic, economic and environmental level.
The project is comprised of a consortium of four universities: the University of Córdoba, the Universitat Politècnica de València, the University of Zaragoza and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC).
PIVOS is funded by the State Research Agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and has a duration of three years (June 2020 to May 2023).
Related Projects
- The Centre for Technological Risk Studies (CERTEC) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC) is coordinating the European Program for Wildfire-Prepared Communities (FIREPRIME), a project designed to develop tools and services for wildfire prevention in Europe, with the goal of improving safety in the wildland-urban interface by actively involving the community in its own protection.
- The Resource Recovery and Environmental Management (R2EM) of the Center for Research in Multiscale Science and Engineering (CCEM) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) is leading the HARMONIZE project, which focuses on the recovery and valorisation of ammonia from urban and industrial waste streams. The project is part of a larger initiative, MemTecWare, coordinated by the UCM.
- The digitalisation of human senses has advanced significantly in areas such as vision, hearing and touch. However, smell and taste continue to present a technological challenge, as their analysis relies on the identification of volatile or dissolved chemical compounds. While there are various sensors on the market capable of detecting specific gases and substances, they often lack the versatility required for comprehensive recognition of complex odours, showing limitations in adapting to different combinations of compounds.
- The Center for Technological Innovation in Static Converters and Drives (CITCEA) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC) has designed a smart wireless application developed to optimize the electricity consumption of high-power devices.
