Assessment of benefits resulting from the use of computer control systems in precision agriculture

Abstract

Rising food prices mean that solutions are sought that will reduce the costs of agricultural production. One area of research is precision agriculture. This solution requires a computerized plant growth monitoring system. The paper presents a computer system for monitoring plant growth, developed for the needs of precision agriculture for small agricultural areas. The work contains a description of the monitoring system divided into the key elements of the process. An exemplary method of preparing orthophotomaps of the area was presented. The method of making maps that can be implemented on a personal computer has been described. The paper describes the most frequently used Geologic Indicators and Vegetation Index. A test of determining the coefficients was carried out on exemplary acreage with an area of 5.28 ha. Typical positioning systems for agricultural machines are discussed. The DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) navigation method was used in the tests, which confirmed that it can be used in precision agriculture for small agricultural areas while maintaining sufficient positioning accuracy. The presented system was tested during one cycle of vegetation of winter barley sown with the no-plowing method. On this basis, an analysis of savings resulting from the reduction of the amount of fertilizers and plant care products used was carried out. The proposed system does not require complicated computer systems. It was designed in such a way that it can be implemented on standard PC equipment cooperating with a short-range drone equipped with a standard RGB (Red Green Blue) camera.