2023-06-13 04:31:12
The National University of Moreno (UNM) received its first patent for having created, together with specialists from the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), a device called “penetrometer” to assess the degree of soil compaction and improve crop yields. Although there is a similar device to carry out this task, the product is imported and its value is quoted in dollars. For this reason, electronic engineers created a national one with parts that are available in the country and also added a GPS. The objective of the artifact is to enhance the productivity of crops and avoid economic losses in the agricultural sector. For their part, the idea of the engineers is that the penetrometer is manufactured by a local SME and can reach the workers on the land.
If the soil is too tight, the roots do not get enough oxygen and cannot expand into the soil to absorb the necessary water and nutrients. This is because the soil is not always prepared, since specific machines are required, a tractor to enter the field and fuel to supply it. To prevent this from happening, the penetrometer is used, an instrument that provides accurate information about when to make the decision to remove soil. In this way, the device is used prior to planting to reduce economic costs.
“What the equipment does is measure the resistance of the soil to the penetration of a cone that has standardized dimensions. From the agricultural point of view, the levels of compaction make it difficult for plants to develop their roots and have them shortened. This makes it very difficult for the absorption of water and different nutrients that affect the growth and subsequent yield of that crop,” he points out. Gerardo Masiaa technician from the Rural Engineering Institute that depends on INTA and a member of the project.
Compaction has two causes, the first is related to the type of soil (clay soil is heavier and prone to this phenomenon) and the second to the transit of agricultural machinery. So, the task of the penetrometer is survey the different areas of the lot through satellites that allow repeating the sampling locations year after year. Thus, the producer can correct the circulation of the tractors to avoid this problem and not generate it again.
National and digital
The equipment consists of a long spike that can be between eighty and threety centimeters long with a kind of spike at the tip. Fairly, the instrument is driven into the ground and, as it descends, measures how much the ground resists penetration by equipment at different heights. That is, the easier it is to enter, the less compaction of the soil.
Although there are similar products, this one has two particularities: it has a built-in gps that geo-references the sample taken from the ground; and it is also digital, so it is not necessary to write down all the results in a template. Until now, the majority of the instruments that are available are manual and those that are digital do not have GPS incorporated and cost around 2,500 dollars.
“For precision agriculture it is important that the samples are georeferenced. Currently, the penetrometer is not widely used due to the economic barriers it represents.. So, we thought of developing one of national origin so that it can be used as it really should be and we add all the things that are not brought by outsiders and are important”, he stresses. Andres Moltoniengineer director of the project and professor at UNM.
So, The Argentine team has a GPS and a compass that tells the person operating it where to take the sample. In a field of several hectares, knowing where to analyze the soil facilitates the task of producers who, with geographic information, satellite images and data from the field, put together a grid of places that is exported to the device and know where they have to measure.
“The penetrometer guides you with an arrow and a distance indicator to where you have to take the measurement and to which place you have to walk to reach the measurement point. When you get there, the device marks the place for you to take several samples and repeat them to carry out statistics and obtain the value more accurately”, emphasizes Moltoni.
own sheet
The patent, which will be in the hands of the UNM and INTA until 2039, was made so that the Argentine penetrometer can be transferred to technology-based SMEs and is available to agronomists. “The idea is that it is produced in the country, that it has better benefits and that it has a lower cost than the imported product so that they can acquire it and make the decision to decompact or not.” says the project manager.
“The development of national instruments not only serves to replace imports, but also ensures after-sales service, that in the face of any difficulty you can have a local manufacturer”, highlights Masiá. The substitution of imports in this type of instrument is important because not only are production costs lowered, but also the ‘know how’ is available to modify it and add what is needed. From an economic point of view, adds the technician, “The idea is to promote the growth and establishment of those SMEs that are so characteristic of our country and provide a very important source of employment.”.
Not only University professors and INTA researchers participated in the project, but also Electronic Engineering students, who used the laboratories for these practices and had the support of the UNM through scholarships and work materials. “The objective is to involve the children in developments that have an interesting degree of innovation and can be reproduced locally.”, affirms the INTA researcher.
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