The satellite system, which should enable the identification of crops on the territory of the Republic of Srpska, as well as real-time monitoring of their health status, is the next step in modernizing agricultural production in RS, the RS Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management said, added that the competent sector is in the process of agreeing on the introduction of systems for the application of satellite products in agriculture.
“This information is used both in the planning of agrarian measures and in the planning of agro-technical operations such as irrigation, fertilization and protection of crops,” the Ministry said.
They also stated that the competent department also has one drone that it uses in practice, and with the help of it they are able to do 3D modeling of the terrain.
“With the multispectral camera, we are able to analyze the health of the crop and identify the problematic parts of the plots where nutrition, fertilization or irrigation needs to be taken into account,” the Ministry explained.
Speaking about the CARPO system, which the Ministry also launched in order to modernize agriculture, they pointed out that they are currently in the phase of transferring this system to a new server, which should be completed in a few days.
“The CARPO system currently has 180 registered users. We know from breeder contacts that they are currently using station data, but these are weather parameters. The use of the results of forecast models for diseases and pests is currently used mainly by agricultural engineers and advisers,” the Ministry explained and added that the plan of the competent department is to train agricultural growers to use these models in the coming period.
According to them, 2019 was the first season in which the system monitored the weather parameters with a total of 50 weather stations and distributed the data free of charge to users of the system.
As they say, this was also an opportunity to test the system and monitor the products of the model in real-time.
“Detailed validation (verification) of models for gray raspberry rot was carried out as part of the master’s work of Mišaela Vakić, in cooperation with the Faculty of Agriculture in Banja Luka. Regular monitoring of the functioning of other models for diseases and pests was also carried out,” Ministry said and noted that the models so far give satisfactory results.
They point out that the results of the model are very useful to the Ministry’s advisers and are a decision-making tool in crop protection, and can be used by private consultants and agricultural growers.
“The main task of the CARPO system in 2020 will be to provide regular recommendations for agricultural growers through a mobile application. Also, the ‘Republic of Srpska Anti-hail Prevention’ has installed new meteorological stations in the field and the plan is to add these stations to the CARPO system during the current season, so the number of stations would increase to 60, ” the Ministry concluded.
Stojan Marinković, president of the RS Association of Agricultural Producers, said that modernizing agriculture is inevitable if we want to improve competitiveness.
“On the other hand, this application, that is, the whole system that is installed for forecasting and weather control and informing farmers about them is a step in the modernization of agriculture that will certainly reduce the cost of agricultural production in terms of reducing the use of chemicals because it is also an application. which in addition to weather and prognosis indicates the possibility of the occurrence of plant diseases and pests, and in cooperation with experts recommends appropriate treatments for protection against plant diseases or pests, ” emphasized Marinković.
He emphasized that this system significantly reduces the use of chemical agents, so that, as he says, agricultural products will be healthier and more applicable for use.
Source: Nezavisne novine
