Approaches to enable Precision Agriculture in small areas

• Grant number: 25/01962-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agricultural Engineering
• Principal Investigator: José Paulo Molin
• Grantee: Bruno Ricardo Silva Costa
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/09319-9 - Center of Science for Development in Digital Agriculture - CCD-AD/SemeAr, AP.CCD

Abstract

With the recent definition of the locations where the Agrotechnological Districts (DATs) will be implemented, challenging demands have arisen that represent opportunities for the Center of Science for Development in Digital Agriculture (Semear Digital). The choice of the municipality of Jacupiranga, in São Paulo, involves challenges associated with banana and pupunha crops, which have been little studied in terms of sensing for monitoring and characterizing crop performance. Pupunha is native to the Amazon and has established itself as an alternative to palm heart cultivation, typically in family farming. Banana is the most consumed fresh fruit in the world and Brazil is its fourth largest producer, with approximately half of this production originating from family farming.The management of spatial and temporal variability in tropical crops, such as banana and pupunha, has been little explored. These crops present unique associated challenges, such as the so-called asynchronicity in production. This refers to the occurrence of different phenological stages of the plant in the same area. These are crops managed as semi-perennials, with peculiarities associated with the renewal and maintenance of plantations, involving harvesting with felling, with the consequent sprouting. This makes it challenging to obtain accurate data for the subsequent application of management strategies, added to the difficulty of digital inclusion of small and medium producers.In the case of bananas, few studies emphasize the existence of spatial variability in production, showing that the common practice of uniform management in producing areas results in an inadequate use of inputs. Because they are small areas, optimized management can be done by demarcating virtual perimeters, applying the concept of Differentiated Management Units (UGDs), all that is needed is to have data to demarcate them.Axis 4 - Automation and Precision Agriculture - will require advanced support in techniques and technologies for remote and proximal sensing that allow for the qualification and quantification, in some way, of the evolution and production progress, in high spatial and temporal resolution, so that it will be possible to add simplified digital solutions for producers in the future. In this sense, to some extent, Axis 3b - Remote Sensing - will also be able to benefit and expand its deliveries.