Abstract
Incorrect pesticide use in plant protection often involve a risk to the health of operators and consumers and can have negative impacts on the environment and the crops. The application of artificial intelligence techniques can help the reduction of the volume sprayed, decreasing these impacts. In Italy, the production of ready-to-eat salad in greenhouses requires usually from 8 to 12 treatments per year. Moreover, inappropriate sprayers are frequently used, being originally designed for open-field operations. To solve this problem, a small vehicle suitable for moving over rough ground (named “rover”), was designed, able to carry out treatments based on a single row pass in the greenhouse, devoted to reduce significantly the sprayed product amount. To ascertain its potential, the prototype has been tested at two growth stages of some salad cultivars, adopting different nozzles and boom settings. Parameters such as boom height, nozzle spacing and inclination, pump pressure and rover traveling speed were studied. To assess the effectiveness of the spraying coverage, for each run several water-sensitive papers were placed throughout the vegetation. Compared to the commonly distributed mixture volume (1000 L/ha), the prototype is able to reduce up to 55% of product sprayed, but still assure an excellent crop coverage.
Highlights
Due to the progressive increase of the world population, which, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), will exceed 9 billion inhabitants in 2050 [1], the agricultural sector will have to satisfy an increasing demand for food
A structured solution to tackle the main criticalities of treatments in the fresh-cut salad cultivation is proposed: a real-time advanced monitoring machine, which aims at improving the treatment by deploying robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to define how to properly spray, given the specific characteristics of the plant
At the base of this principle, we have an autonomous rover adapting the controllable characteristics of the treatment was designed and built
Summary
Due to the progressive increase of the world population, which, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), will exceed 9 billion inhabitants in 2050 [1], the agricultural sector will have to satisfy an increasing demand for food. A crucial role will be played by pesticides. According to FAO, pesticides include any substance, or mixture of substances of chemical (natural or synthetic) or biological ingredients for repelling, destroying, or controlling any pest, or regulating plant growth [2]. They can help to protect seeds and safeguard crops from unwanted plants, insects, bacteria, fungi and rodents. Pesticide is a more general term that comprises plant protection products (PPPs) which are aimed to protect crops or desirable/useful plants. When pesticides are used irresponsibly, they might involve health risks, can have negative environmental impacts, on the soil and water, can reduce biodiversity, and, in some cases, decrease crop yield
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