Development and tests of a variable rate system for the distribution of livestock slurry with pressurized tankers
Contributo in Atti di convegno
Data di Pubblicazione:
2016
Citazione:
Development and tests of a variable rate system for the distribution of livestock slurry with pressurized tankers / A. Calcante, R. Oberti, M. Brambilla, C. Bisaglia - In: Mechanization and new technologies for the control and the sustainability of agricultural and forestry systems : proceedings[s.l] : Università di Sassari, 2016. - ISBN 9791220010986. - pp. 12-15 (( convegno MECHTECH tenutosi a Alghero nel 2016.
Abstract:
Effluent management has become increasingly important among livestock farming activities, particularly relating to the environmental impacts that could result from inadequate effluent management especially at the farm level. Due to this issue, the European Commission, with Directive 91/676/EC, aimed at protecting the environment while ensuring that farmers could achieve proper production levels. Due to this directive, nitrate vulnerable zones have been set with strict regulations regarding the timing and rates of nitrogen application in these zones. In the vulnerable zones, a specific threshold limits the application rate to 170 kg/ha per year for nitrogen whilst, in the remaining areas, the threshold is 340 kg/ha. The present study aimed to develop a variable-rate (VRT) system
capable of automatically controlling the nitrogen distribution rate in the open field specifically designed for pressurized slurry tanker (the most diffused spreading technology used in Italy. For field-testing purposes, this system was mounted on a double-axis 10 m3 slurry tanker equipped with a crawling nozzle distribution unit. Field experiments were conducted at two typical forward speeds (2 and 3 km/h) and three different nitrogen application rates (170, 250, and 340 kg/ha). Based on the experimental results, the system was generally capable of limiting the differences between the nominal and measured application rates to less than 7% and the transverse field distribution resulted uniform throughout the working width of the machine and at all tested operating conditions, with
maximum deviations of about 15% (limit value imposed by UNI EN 13406:2002 standard).
Tipologia IRIS:
03 - Contributo in volume
Keywords:
Variable-rate distribution; Pressurized Slurry tankers; Precision agriculture; Slurry spreading control
Elenco autori:
A. Calcante, R. Oberti, M. Brambilla, C. Bisaglia
Link alla scheda completa:
Titolo del libro:
Mechanization and new technologies for the control and the sustainability of agricultural and forestry systems : proceedings