Resultados do Projeto PRODETAB 030-01/99 de agricultura de precisão.

Precision agriculture techniques is being available in Brazil since 1997, and became an important tool to manage production systems according to site specific management concept. The application of this new technique leads to optimizing the use of inputs, trying to reduce impact of agricultural pratices to the environmental and to improve agriculture yields on the production systems, in qualitative and quantitative aspects. This project was motivated by the research´s demand on the development and technology transfer on this strategic theme for Brazilian agriculture, with the following objective: To establish technical basis and to produce information to use the instrumentation and methodologies in precision farming, to increase efficiency of agricultural production systems and use of inputs under no-tillage system. The project is being developed in two different stages: the first one is the establishment of a pilot area, in Embrapa Corn and Sorghum, located at Sete Lagoas city, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in order to develop and calibrate as well as to make adjustment of technology and models; and the second, in the Center West region, to transfer the experiences learned from the pilot areas to the commercial production system. It is a multidisciplinary work which involves teams from Embrapa Corn and Sorghum, Embrapa Instrumentation, Embrapa Software, UNICAMP/FEAGRI, UFV/DEA, AGCO from Brazil and Emater-MG. After 3 years of project implementation many results were found, but the most important are related to the acceptance and use of this new tool for agriculture by the technical researcher staff; undergraduate and graduate student involved in the program. Also during the on going research there was technology transfer by seminars, conferences and extension programs. The methodology developed to establish crop production trends is being adjusted to be used for monitoring commercial agriculture. The continuation of this project will allow substantial implementation to support the use of precision farming as a powerful tool to maximize use of inputs, and to practice the sustainability concept of commercial agriculture.