Title
Development of new technological and conceptual tools for the implementation of integrated weed management systems in winter cereal and vineyards
Cropping Systems
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Description
The goal of this project is to provide the knowledge, concepts and technological tools required in the development of integrated weed management systems (IWMS). The project is structured around two scenarios: the dry-land cereal production systems prevailing in central Spain and the vineyard systems more widely used in these same areas, based on the use of deficit irrigation. In both scenarios we will develop remote sensing technologies based on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) equipped with multispectral sensors for weed detection and discrimination and, further, for the generation of weed infestation maps using object based image analysis (OBIA). The high spatial resolution of these images should allow weed detection in both, early and late phenological stages. At the same time, detection systems located at on-ground platforms for proximal detection/discrimination of weeds will be developed by using artificial vision techniques. 2d and 3d maps of the crops will be added to characterize weeds and crops. This technology is complementary to remote sensing, providing a robust information avoiding the effects of shadows and external objects. Both, proximal and remote information will be used to construct herbicide treatment maps. All these studies will be supported by basic investigations focused on some relevant questions on the ecological behavior of a reduced number of weed species of particular importance in those two crops. A central role within the project will be assigned to cropping system experiments designed specifically to assess, using multiple criteria (economic, agronomic, environmental), the efficacy and the side-effects of different management systems. In cereal cropping systems we will use, independently and combined, different crop rotations and different soil and weed management systems. A particular attention will be given to fields with herbicide resistance problems. In vineyards we will assess different systems for the management of the soil and of the non-crop vegetation in relation to irrigation regime. It is expected that the results obtained in this project will contribute to adjust the current crop production systems to the requirements of the EU directive on the sustainable use of pesticides and to Spain's national action plan. The fulfillment of these requirements will result, in the last term, in the production of safer crops, more efficiently and with a lower impact on the environment.
