MAPPING TILLAGE FURROWS IN AGRICULTURAL FIELDS

Description

In hillside crops, the irrational use of tillage accelerates erosion processes, due to the fact that mechanised tillage generates alternative soil movements, both upward and downward, which cause the soil structure to be altered, making it more susceptible to erosion and loss of fertility. Thus, tillage erosion is triggered by the crop activity itself and sometimes also acts as an aggravator of the other erosive processes affecting the soil. A tillage direction oriented in favour of the slope can become preferential runoff paths and lead to an increase in water erosion. Therefore, the identification of the direction of ploughing in ploughed fields is fundamental to delimit the suitability of ploughing and to control erosion, thus allowing the achievement of sustainable development of farms.

At present, there are no mechanisms that allow adequate large-scale control and monitoring of critical tillage features such as tillage direction. The present invention provides an innovative method for the remote detection and mapping of tillage direction in agricultural fields based on the automatic detection of tillage marks (tillage furrows) in aerial images.

Advantages

This is an unprecedented, highly accurate and reliable procedure for monitoring tillage practices that makes it possible:

1.Improve the knowledge of tillage strategies applied by local farmers and the detection of conservation practices, such as contour tillage.

2.Provide accurate and timely data on tillage events at various spatial and temporal scales, as well as contribute to the information required for the improvement of erosion model calculations.

On the other side,among others uses, could be aimed at governments and national or international public administrations that recognise the need to control tillage operations for better soil conservation in vulnerable areas. This is the case of the Community Agricultural Policy (CAP), which assumes the need to achieve the sustainable development of farms through the compatibility of their economic profitability with environmental conservation. To this end, in 2003 it established the cross-compliance system (EU Regulation 640/2014), which must be complied with by aid beneficiaries, in which it sets out a series of Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions for the land (GAEC), including the importance of adopting measures aimed at soil conservation and its carbon stock related to rational tillage. These measures should be adapted to the environment in which they are to be applied (each member state) and be accompanied by control and monitoring mechanisms to ensure compliance.

Uses and Applications

The application of the invention in agricultural management sectors is manifold.
Among others, its use could be aimed at governments and national or international public administrations that recognise the need to control tillage operations for better soil conservation in vulnerable areas. To date, the methodological shortcomings in its adaptation and control procedure are obvious. The proposed invention fills this gap by providing specific tools to control and assess erodibility factors such as tillage and its management.