Proyecto INNOSETA: Acercando la ciencia al campo para una protección de cultivos segura y sostenible

El principal objetivo del proyecto INNOSETA es el desarrollo de una plataforma o red temática que contribuya a acercar la ciencia al sector profesional, poniendo a su alcance de forma fácil todos los desarrollos derivados de la investigación, el desarrollo industrial o los últimos avances en materia de formación relacionados todos ellos con el uso de los productos fitosanitarios. Los beneficios esperados del desarrollo del proyecto están relacionados con un mejor y más seguro uso de los productos fitosanitarios, la reducción de los inputs (agua, tiempo, combustible, …) lo que redundará en un mejor aprovechamiento de los mismos, una reducción del riesgo de contaminación y una aproximación a lo establecido en la Directiva de Uso Sostenible de PlaguicidasPostprint (published version

What to be considered when you buy a sprayer: the SPISE advice

Since the publication of European Directive (2009/127/EC), environmental requirements for new orchard sprayers are mandatory. Only equipment which has successfully accomplish the specifications can be placed into the EU market.Postprint (published version

Agricultura de precisión

2010/201

Reducir la deriva en tratamientos en viña: TOPPS–Prowadis y la guía de buenas prácticas fitosanitarias

El uso de productos fitosanitarios en Europa y su relación con la contaminación de aguas ha suscitado en los últimos tiempos importantes cambios en el panorama legislativo. Para facilitar la implementación de toda la legislación vigente la ECPA (European Crop Protection Association) inició un ambicioso plan de trabajo bajo el marco del proyecto TOPPS (Train the Operators to Promote best Practices and Sustainability) encaminado a la reducción de la contaminación de las aguas por el uso de productos fitosanitarios. De entre el material elaborado cabe destacar la Guía de Buenas Prácticas Fitosanitarias, una recopilación de medidas más o menos conocidas que mejoran sustancialmente la calidad del proceso de aplicación de fitosanitarios. En este artículo se recogen algunas de las medidas propuestas para la reducción de la deriva, como el ajuste de la corriente de aire del ventilador, la utilización de boquillas antideriva o el simple pero fundamental proceso de regulación y selección adecuada de los parámetros operativos de la operación.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Advice for the functional inspection of the dusters

It is estimated that about 200000 dusters are actually in use in Europe, especially in the Southern zone. As required the EU Directive 128/2009/EC, this type of machines, employed mainly for distributing dry sulfur dust in vineyards, are subject to a mandatory functional inspection as all other kinds of equipment used for pesticide distribution.Postprint (updated version

Días de campo

Discurso de ingreso en la Real Academia Europea de Doctores, como Académico Numerario, en el acto de su recepción el 28 de octubre de 2019 por Excmo. Sr. Dr. Emilio Gil Moya Doctor en Ingeniería Agrónoma Y contestación del Académico de Número Excmo. Sr. Dr. Javier Gil Mur, Doctor en Ingeniería Química y MetalurgiaPostprint (published version

Advances in developing a new test method to assess spray drift potential from air blast sprayers

Drift is one of the most important issues to consider for realising sustainable pesticide sprays. This study proposes and tests an alternative methodology for quantifying the drift potential (DP) of air blast sprayers, trying to avoid the difficulties faced in conducting field trials according to the standard protocol (ISO 22866:2005). For this purpose, an ad hoc test bench designed for DP comparative measurements was used. The proposed methodology was evaluated in terms of robustness, repetitiveness and coherence by arranging a series of trials at two laboratories. Representative orchard and vineyard air blast sprayers in eight configurations (combination of two forward speeds, two air fan flow rates, and two nozzle types) were tested. The test bench was placed perpendicular to the spray track to collect the fraction of spray liquid remaining in the air after the spray process and potentially susceptible to drift out of the treated area. Downwind spray deposition curves were obtained and a new approach was proposed to calculate an index value of the DP estimation that could allow the differences among the tested configurations to be described. Results indicated that forward speed of 1.67 m/s allows better discrimination among configurations tested. Highest DP reduction, over 87.5%, was achieved using the TVI nozzles in combination with low air fan flow rate in both laboratories; conversely, the highest DP value was obtained with the ATR nozzles in combination with high air fan flow rate. Although the proposed method shows a promising potential to evaluate drift potential of different sprayer types and nozzles types used for bush and tree crops further research and tests are necessary to improve and validate this method.Postprint (published version

Spanish’s experience on improving inspection of sprayers: official manual for ISO 16122 and ISO 16119

Mandatory inspections in Spain are organized following ISO 16122. In order to guarantee a clear and comprehensive inspection’s procedure in all of the official inspection’s workshops, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture published an official inspection’s manual based on ISO 16122 in order to improve and harmonize the process.Postprint (published version

Electronic characterization of the phenological stages of grapevine using a LIDAR sensor

Canopy characteristics and their variation at all growth stages, together with the spatial distribution of plants in the field need to be considered in determining the application volume rate in fruit crops. Spray volume calculation in a vineyard needs to take into account concepts such as tree row volume (TRV), leaf wall area (LWA) and leaf area index (LAI). The objective of this work was to develop one protocol to characterize the canopy geometry of grapevine to determine BBCH stages using data sets measured manually and with LIDAR scanning. With this aim, a package called PROcess TO LIdar Data v.0.1 (PROTOLIDAR) was created in R environment to process the LIDAR scan information. Results showed a significant correlation between LIDAR impacts and LAI at each growth stage. The relationship between the estimated values of TRV or LWA, and the growth stage of the vine was statistically significant (R2 = 0.99 and R2 = 0.95, respectively). Finally, the geometry characterizations of the plants were represented in 2 or 3D maps in GRASS-GIS.Postprint (published version