Precision Engineering

AMAZONE 4.0 – the digitalisation hub

Agriculture faces major challenges today. On the one hand, it needs to produce highquality food to feed the world but this is against the backdrop of a steadily growing world population where the amount of arable land on which food can be produced is decreasing due to increased urbanisation and the drive towards green energy. This means that higher yields are the key objective for agricultural production. However, this improvement in yield isn’t going to come by simply increasing the size of machinery, it is necessary to improve the efficiency of production processes through automation and to treat the plants as precisely as possible for them to reach true potential. To make matters worse, climate change with its extreme weather conditions poses new challenges for agriculture meaning that there isn’t a consistent level of yield.

There is also pressure coming from environmental regulations, such as limitations on fertiliser application or the reduction in the use of chemicals as well as the elimination of many individual plant protection agents altogether and this further restricts potential production. At the same time, increasing biodiversity must continue to be the primary goal of modern agriculture, so that there are good prospects for future generations in the long term. In addition to saving resources for reasons of environmental protection or public acceptance, it goes without saying that the optimum use of inputs is also of enormous economic importance for agriculture and so they must be applied even more precisely. Whereas a uniform application rate was applied to the full area in the past, this now is being done more and more by part-area - and even by individual plant in the future. This means that the precision involved in sowing, fertilisation and crop protection machinery must increase.

The ongoing digitalisation of production processes will significantly support agriculture in overcoming these enormous challenges and also in supplying the world population with high-quality food in the future. A combined approach to digitalisation, such as AMAZONE 4.0, means that farmers and contractors are offered comprehensive, optimum solutions for precision farming.

Using precision farming then enables this move towards a more plant by plant approach. Fertiliser spreaders can automatically react to wind conditions using WindControl or to changes in fertiliser quality and spreadability by constantly monitoring the spread pattern with ArgusTwin. Dividing fields up into zones, whether it is by identifying soil type, nutrient levels, yield returns or having an input of local experience into field performance, can then be used to generate an application map.

Application maps can be used to spot spray areas of the field using AmaSelect Spot or to target nutrient applications to the crops needs using soil sampling, tissue sampling, satellite imagery or historical data which can be passed across to the spreader. Plant populations can be evened up across different soil types and

areas prone to post-emergence damage from pests by working to a seed rate map with the seed drill. The seed drill can also be set for depth automatically by using soil texture maps to control coulter pressure on the move.

Real-time sensors, such as the SmartSprayer project, are giving the information required to make in-field adjustments to application rates or the style of application such as switching from standard flat fan nozzles to air inclusion nozzles where drift has become an issue. Decision-making engines, such as the BASF xarvio system, can take data supplied by the machine in the field, analyse that data and then send a request to alter the machine settings all within milliseconds of a scanning system ‘seeing’ the crop.

Utilising section control means that overlaps are avoided on the ins and outs which can prevent lodging, stop chemical resistance build-up, improve yield by optimum fertilisation and prevent yield loss by overapplying chemicals, etc. And this applies across the seed drill, fertiliser spreader or sprayer alike. Going to a sprayer with individual nozzle shut-off, like the AmaSelect system, will reduce unnecessary overlap by 85% giving a 5% saving in agchem or fertiliser use as well giving a boost to yields. The droplet size is also automatically maintained by automatically selecting the optimum nozzle. Using section control on the drill means the optimum plant stand across the field with no areas missed allowing for weed pressure or areas with too thick a crop meaning potential lodging as well as disease pressure from reduced air flow. AmaSelect Row enables a conventional sprayer to switch to band spraying across varying row widths on the move. DirectInject can apply an additional product into the spray line on demand. And so the list of potential digital solutions goes on.

The knock-on effect from using this level of technology is not just seeing an improvement in the efficacy of the application but also improved timeliness and a serious reduction in operator pressure and improved output form the use of this automation. A win-win situation all round.