Variable Rate Operations for Orchards (VAROS)

• Research unit: FOAG
• Project number: 10.20_10

Key words (German)

Precision farming, Obstgärten, Infrarotsensoren, Bewässerung, Düngung, Sprühen

Key words (English)

precision farming, orchard management, infrared sensors, irrigation, fertilization, spraying

Key words (French)

agriculture de précision, gestion des vergers, capteurs infrarouges, irrigation, fertilisation, pulvérisation

Short description (English)

The ability to optimize inputs at spatial scale has been enabled with the use of Variable Rate Applications (VRA). Despite the fact that there are numerous VRA systems aimed at arable crops, specific systems for orchard management utilizing precision monitoring and application of the orchards are still lacking. These cropping systems face increasing market pressure to produce quality products, and provide a detailed traceable system for the origin of the product including, the treatments and the conditions that have occurred during the production. The main aim of this project is to advance the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the VRA for orchard management, from the research stage to prototype testing, to enable more optimized use of inputs in fruit production, minimize the use of pesticides and protect the environment. The consortium has five partners from five countries participating with funding under this ICT-Agri Call. The field applications will be carried out in 3 countries: variable rate irrigation in Spain, variable rate fertilization in Turkey and variable rate spraying in Denmark. Specific orchards have been identified in all three countries: apples in Denmark and Turkey and olive oil and citrus trees in Spain. The project consists of five research activities. The first research activity will develop a set of algorithms for operations management for VRA in orchards based on task allocation and auxiliary data, the second activity will implement a set of sensing systems for 3D representation of the tree canopy and the remaining three research activities will deal with the three VRA (irrigation, fertilization and spraying). The project will also undertake adoption studies in the three countries, where the experimental fields are located. It will have an exploitation package for valorization of the results and a dissemination activity to publish and circulate the results into the scientific and farming communities.

Project aims (English)

The main aim of this project is to advance the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of VRA for orchard management from the research stage to prototype testing, to enable enhanced and optimized use of inputs in fruit production, and to minimize the use of pesticides for protecting the environment.

Transfer and application (English)

Orchard’s irrigation, fertilization and spraying operations will be supported by the VAROS system. More specifically, various subsystems will be developed providing a solution for applying VR (Variable Rate) irrigation, fertilization and spraying. Supporting this solution, a system for 3D representation of orchards and operation management software for applying VR applications in orchards will be developed.