Development of a controller for application of liquid fertilizers

• Grant number: 03/02344-7
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Duration: May 01, 2004 - October 31, 2007
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Industrial Electronics, Electronic Systems and Controls
• Principal Investigator: Claudio Kiyoshi Umezu
• Grantee: Claudio Kiyoshi Umezu
• Host Company: Tandra Sistemas de Controle Ltda. - ME
• City: São Paulo

Abstract

The application of agricultural fertilizers has traditionally used fertilizers of the solid, pre-formulated types. However, higher levels of productivity have been obtained with the adoption of liquid fertilizer, which offers a further advantage: the possibility of greater control over the quantity and the area where it is used, decreasing losses and contamination of the environment. The equipment for the application of liquid supplies existing on the market, controlled by electronic devices, can operate constant or variable application rates, however they are not able to formulate the supply according to the localized need of the soil nutrients. The principal objectives of this project are: 1) to study the technical viability of an autonomous control system for the local application of liquid fertilizer at variable rates, with the capacity to vary the formulation in real time, which may be used in commercial implements already existing; and 2) to carry out the preliminary analysis of the cost of the control system and its commercial return. The evaluation of the control system will be undertaken in the laboratory, using application maps specially created with a view to exploring different work situations as far as formulation and dosage are concerned. In this stage a cost analysis will also be undertaken and the identification of suppliers. (AU)