Terroir 2020 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Terroir Conferences 9 Terroir 2020 9 History and innovation of terroir 9 DOSAVIÑA® A new app for a more sustainable use of plant protection products in vineyard

DOSAVIÑA® A new app for a more sustainable use of plant protection products in vineyard

Abstract

Aims: DOSAVIÑA® was developed with the aim of helping farmers to determine optimal volume rates for spray applications in vineyards. The final developed tool is a good example of bringing research to end users. 

Methods and Results: DOSAVIÑA® is based on a modified method of Leaf Wall Area (LWA) and includes a tool for sprayer calibration support. Calibration process is highlighted in the APP, as one of the conditions for a good success of the entire process. DOSAVIÑA® also calculates the optimal parameters for working pressure, forward speed, and number and type of nozzles. DOSAVIÑA® was developed by the Unit of Agricultural Machinery at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, and is available for iOS and Android, and also web (https://dosavina.upc.edu). The system, based on a modified version of the leaf wall area (LWA) method, calculates the optimal volume rate for vineyards considering leaf density, canopy width, and sprayer type. Results indicated that water and pesticide use could be reduced by more than 20% while still meeting economic, environmental, and food quality requirements. The design of the tool is aligned with European requirements concerning pesticide use, as established in the European Directive for the sustainable use of pesticides. In the majority of cases, the recommended volumes obtained after using DOSAVIÑA® are lower than those commonly selected by the farmers. This fact, coupled with a dose expression method based on concentration, leads to a consequent reduction in pesticide amounts, in line with the main objective established in Europe after the official publication of the Sustainable Use Directive (EU, 2009). The sprayer adjustment tool included in DOSAVIÑA® represents a convenient complement to the establishment of the optimal volume rate. The automated calculation process allows selection of the most suitable values for the most important parameters, particularly working pressure. Results of field trials demonstrated that an accurate calibration process allows similar levels of coverage to be obtained, even with low spray volumes. 

Conclusion: 

The APP, has been shown to reduce fungicide use by up to 20%. This fact translates not only into significant time savings and higher working capacity, aspects highly valued by the producer, but also an economic benefit and a reduction in the risk of environmental contamination, not only due to the reduction in fungicide used, but also due to the use of the equipment in optimal conditions. 

Significance and Impact of the Study: The social impact generated by the application, especially in the productive sector has been demonstrated. DOSAVIÑA® is also a tool included in the training programs that is especially for the European Commission through CHAFEA, in the BTSF – Best Training for Safer Food.

DOI:

Publication date: March 23, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2020

Type: Video

Authors

Emilio Gil*, Javier Campos, Jordi Llop

Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Biotechnology
Esteve Terradas, 8 – 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain
Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya

Contact the author

Keywords

DOSAVIÑA®, optimal vineyard spray rates, plant protection products

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2020

Citation

Related articles…

Impact of climate change on the viticultural climate of the Protected Designation of Origin “Jumilla” (SE Spain)

Protected Designation of Origin “Jumilla” (PDO Jumilla) is located in the Spanish provinces of Albacete and Murcia, in the South-eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, where most of the models predict a severe impact of climate change in next decades. PDO Jumilla covers an area of 247,054 hectares, of which more than 22,000 hectares

Geospatial trends of bioclimatic indexes in the topographically complex region of Barolo DOCG

Barolo DOCG is an economically important wine producing region in Northwest Italy. It is a small region of approximately 70 km2 gross area. The topography is very complex with steep sloped hills ranging in elevation from below 200 m to 550 m. Barolo DOCG wine is made exclusively from the Nebbiolo grape. Bioclimatic indexes are often used in viticulture to gain a better understanding of broader climate trends which can be compared temporally and geographically. These indexes are also used for identifying potential phenological timing, growing region suitability, and potential risks associated with expected climatic changes. Understanding how topography influences bioclimatic indexes can help with understanding of mesoscale climate behaviour leading to improved decision making and risk management strategies. The average monthly maximum and minimum temperatures, the Cool Night Index, the Huglin Index, and the monthly diurnal range (from July to October) were calculated using data from 45 weather stations within a 40 km radius of the Barolo DOCG growing area between the years 1996 and 2019. Linear and multiple regression models were developed using independent variables (elevation, aspect, slope) extracted from a digital elevation model to identify significant relationships. Bioclimatic indexes were then kriged with external drift using independent variables that showed significant relationships with the bioclimatic index using a 100 m resolution grid. The maximum monthly temperatures and the Huglin Index showed consistent significant negative relationships with elevation in all years. The minimum monthly temperatures showed no relationship with elevation but in some months a small but significant relationship was observed with aspect. Due to the lack of a relationship between minimum monthly temperatures and elevation compared to the significant relationship between maximum monthly temperatures and elevation, monthly diurnal range had a negative relationship with elevation.

Downscaling of remote sensing time series: thermal zone classification approach in Gironde region

In viticulture, the challenges of local climate modelling are multiple: taking into account the local environment, fine temporal and spatial scales, reliable time series of climate data, ease of implementation and reproducibility of the method. At the local scale, recent studies have demonstrated the contribution of spatialization methods for ground-based climate observation data considering topographic factors such as altitude, slope, aspect, and geographic coordinates (Le Roux et al, 2017; De Rességuier et al, 2020). However, these studies have shown questions in terms of the reproducibility and sustainability of this type of climate study. In this context, we evaluated the potential of MODIS thermal satellite images validated with ground-based climate data (Morin et al, 2020). Previous studies have been encouraging, but questions remain to be explored at the regional scale, particularly in the dynamics of the massive use of bioclimatic indices to classify the climate of wine regions. The results at the local scale were encouraging, but this approach was tested in the current study at the regional scale. Several objectives were set: 1) to evaluate the downscaling method for land surface temperature time series, 2) to identify regional thermal structure variations. We used weekly minimum and maximum surface temperature time series acquired by MODIS satellites at a spatial resolution of 1000 m and downscaled at 500 m using topographical variables. Two types of analyses were performed:

Mapping and tracking canopy size with VitiCanopy

Understanding vineyard variability to target management strategies, apply inputs efficiently and deliver consistent grape quality to the winery is essential. However, despite inherent vineyard variability, the majority are managed as if they are uniform. VitiCanopy is a simple, grower-friendly tool for precision/digital viticulture that allows users to collect and interpret objective spatial information about vineyard performance. After four years of field and market research, an upgraded VitiCanopy has been created to achieve a more streamlined, technology-assisted vine monitoring tool that provides users with a set of superior new features, which could significantly improve the way users monitor their grapevines. These new features include:
• New user interface
• User authentication
• Batch analysis of multiple images
• Ease the learning curve through enhanced help features
• Reporting via the creation of colour maps that will allow users to assess the spatial differences in canopies within a vineyard.
Use-case examples are presented to demonstrate the quantification and mapping of vineyard variability through objective canopy measurements, ground-truthing of remotely sensed measurements, monitoring of crop conditions, implementation of disease and water management decisions as well as creating a history of each site to forecast quality. This intelligent tool allows users to manage grapevines and make informed management choices to achieve the desired production targets and remain profitable.

Short-term relationships between climate and grapevine trunk diseases in southern French vineyards

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...