Between March and December 2015, Soing carried out a great and unique project of knowledge and characterisation of the soil with the integrated method in the properties of Jolanda di Savoia (FE), Mirabello (FE) and Santa Caterina (AR) for a total of 5000ha.
The integrated project (geophysical analysis, direct soil observations with profiling and sampling, chemical analyses, GIS-based processing of all the collected information) led to the development of soil maps scaled 1:10,000 for each property, plus a large number of thematic maps of the distribution of the physical and chemical properties of the soils. All the yield data belonging to the farm over the past years was used together with the related cultivation statuses which, integrated with all the properties and the units mapped with this project, were useful in order to suggest targeted fertilising suggestions.
Each datum mapped is geo-referenced in UTM coordinates and may therefore be overlaid to any kind of future data that the farm will elaborate.
Thanks to the integrated method of high spatial resolution soil characterisation, the farm has the ability to define agronomic strategies and actions for each plot according to precision farming techniques, using equipment which allows the distribution of production inputs, such as seeds and fertilisers in a differentiated and rationalised manner. This innovative equipment is based on the VRT technology – variable rate technology. With the soil maps, it is possible to apply the VRT according to the maps.
VRT methodology for maps makes use of the following elements:
• Sensors that provide the data for which they were conceived;
• Acquisition and processing unit, which reads and processes the input data and soilscapes;
• Control unit, which controls the actuators which apply the variable dosage according to the information received from the previous unit and the operating machine’s characteristics;
• Actuators, which operate on the equipment’s adjustment system, transforming the pulses and inputs received into physical actions.
