A technical-economic analysis of telemetry as a monitoring tool for crop protection in viticulture

Abstract

Based on the European Community framework directive 2009/128/EC that is devoted to the sustainable use of pesticides, farmers’ sensitivity and their administrative fulfillments are growing in recent years. Great attention is directed towards remote data acquisition by smartphone, satellites, drones. An available technological tool to accomplish this in the scenario of precision viticulture technologies is telemetry. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of the data acquired with a telemetry system used when applying crop protection products in a winemaking farm for management optimization. Results showed an incorrect operative operation rate for 9.53% of the total kilometers worked during the spraying phase with a variable cost for fuel and pesticides ranging between 0.01 € m–1 and 0.03 € m–1.