Electronics and Agro-industrial Systems. New techno-productive paradigm

Abstract

Electronic engineering has become a high-tech field with great relevance throughout the world regarding food, alternative energies and environmental sustainability. The use of precision techniques together with robotic systems improves soil and crop management. In addition, these systems make use of the processing of large volumes of information for decision making, which can minimize the use of agrochemicals while ensuring effective control of pests, weeds and diseases, while supplying an adequate amount of nutrients to crops. Some of the substantial changes that have occurred in recent decades in the sector related to electronics include the incorporation of precision agriculture -as an agronomic innovation- to which is added the widespread use of electronics and information and communication technologies (ICTs) . This conjunction facilitates obtaining information in real time, allowing the correction of agricultural tasks at the time they are being carried out. The improvements in Precision agriculture, communications and the Internet make possible applications that were not considered viable a few years ago. The objective of this paper is to account for the progress made by the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) in relation to these emerging technologies and, in particular, to describe the work carried out by the Laboratory of Agroelectronics of the Rural Engineering Institute belonging to the aforementioned institution.