Plant Soil Environ., 2014, 60(1):36-42 | DOI: 10.17221/622/2012-PSE

Machinery guidance systems analysis concerning pass-to-pass accuracy as a tool for efficient plant production in fields and for soil damage reductionOriginal Paper

Z. Kvíz, M. Kroulik, J. Chyba

Department of Agricultural Machines, Faculty of Engineering, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

Machines without satellite navigation in fields have a tendency to pass-to-pass errors, especially unwanted overlaps, resulting in waste of fuel and pesticides, longer working times and also environmental damage. This paper evaluates the accuracy of individual machinery passes in fields. Real pass-to-pass errors (omissions and overlaps) in a field were measured on different tractor-implement units with and without guidance system utilization and a comparison between observed guidance arrangements was made regarding final working accuracy and possible benefits from navigation utilization. Additionally, intensity of machinery passes, and repeated passes on soil, as a possible risk for soil compaction in fields, were monitored. The outcomes from our measurements revealed a statistically significant difference between the total area treated by machinery without any guidance system and machinery using precise guidance systems. Concerning the intensity of traffic in fields, it was found out that more than 86% of the total field area was run-over at least once during one cropping season when using conventional tillage practice. The usage of guidance systems can reduce machinery traffic in field to some extent as well and thus improve soil conditions.

Keywords: precision farming; machinery passes; satellite navigation; traffic intensity; soil compaction

Published: January 31, 2014  Show citation