Abstract
Centrifugal fertilizer spreaders are by far the most commonly used granular fertilizer spreader type in Europe. Their spread pattern however is error-prone, potentially leading to an undesired distribution of particles in the field and losses out of the field, which is often caused by poor calibration of the spreader for the specific fertilizer used. Due to the large environmental impact of fertilizer use, it is important to optimize the spreading process and minimize these errors. Spreader calibrations can be performed by using collection trays to determine the (field) spread pattern, but this is very time-consuming and expensive for the farmer and hence not common practice. Therefore, we developed an innovative multi-camera system to predict the spread pattern in a fast and accurate way, independent of the spreader configuration. Using high-speed stereovision, ejection parameters of particles leaving the spreader vanes were determined relative to a coordinate system associated with the spreader. The landing positions and subsequent spread patterns were determined using a ballistic model incorporating the effect of tractor motion and wind. Experiments were conducted with a commercial spreader and showed a high repeatability. The results were transformed to one spatial dimension to enable comparison with transverse spread patterns determined in the field and showed similar results.
Highlights
The applied quantity of N-fertilizer has a direct effect on agricultural productivity, environmental pollution, food security, ecosystem health, human health and economic prosperity [1]
Simple in working principle, their spread pattern is prone to errors, which are often caused by lack of calibration for the specific fertilizer used
The system showed a high repeatability in determination of the particle size distribution, as the results were similar between tests
Summary
The applied quantity of N-fertilizer has a direct effect on agricultural productivity, environmental pollution, food security, ecosystem health, human health and economic prosperity [1]. A recent study [2] illustrates the large environmental impact of fertilizer in a wheat-to-bread supply chain. The use of ammonium nitrate fertilizer alone accounted for 43.4% of the overall Global Warming. Potential (GWP) and 34.1% of the Eutrophication Potential (EP) in the production of a loaf of bread. Use Efficiency (NUE) while maintaining high yield, through improved crop plant physiology and through improved agronomic practices such as precision agriculture. Granular fertilizer is mostly spread by centrifugal fertilizer spreaders [3,4] due to their robustness, simplicity, low cost and large working widths [5,6].
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