Research Article

Effectiveness of GNSS-based tractor auto steering systems in crop spraying

Volume: 24 Number: 0 December 27, 2019
TR EN

Effectiveness of GNSS-based tractor auto steering systems in crop spraying

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to compare pass-to-pass overlaps and spacings in adjacent parallel passes in spraying with and without tractor automatic steering (AS).


Methods and Results: The data were obtained from 13 farmer fields (cotton, corn and peanut) to assess the performance of AS systems in real farmer conditions. Root mean square errors (RMSE) of overlaps and spacings were determined on the maps generated from the coordinates of the tractor recorded while spraying. Variations between the fields were also examined. The RMSE was lowest (7.5 ± 1.7 cm) in the fields on which farmers used AS (with RTK correction signal) in all three operations of tillage, sowing and spraying. RMSE values were comparatively higher for the fields on which farmers used AS only in ridge tillage but not in sowing and spraying (CORS-GSM: 46.1 ± 6.5 cm, SBAS: 76.5 ± 13.9 cm). The fields with manually-steered ridge tillage, sowing and spraying (all three) had the highest RMSE value of 100.8 ± 27.8 cm (p<0.05). The mean RMSE in the manual spraying (without AS) were found to be significantly higher than those using the AS (p<0.05).


Conclusions: AS systems were found to be beneficial in reducing the mean pass-to pass overlap and spacing errors (RMSE) in spraying. However, most of the farmers used AS only in soil ridge tillage and made the spraying without AS by referencing marking flags and/ or soil ridges which were formed using AS. Main reason of this is the high cost of the AS systems and farmers cannot afford to equip all of their tractors. The use of AS systems not only in ridge tillage but also in planting and spraying reduced the errors and increased the benefit of AS usage. The level of benefit from the AS could change from farmer to farmer; thus, farmers should use the AS systems carefully with appropriate equipment settings to obtain a higher level of benefits.


Significance and Impact of the Study: Appropriate use of AS systems in spraying offers benefits to reduce overlap and gaps and the amount of pesticides resulting in lower amount of environmental pollution and pesticide residues on crops, lower application time, lower fuel and labor consumption.

Keywords

Thanks

The authors thank Mr. Omer Selim Alporal (from Graftek), Dr. Yunus Emre Sekerli, Dr. Selcuk Ugurluay and all farmers who made contributions in data collection and analysis. This paper was produced from the MSc thesis of Mr. Mustafa Topcueri under the supervision of Dr. Muharrem Keskin.

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Agricultural Engineering

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

December 27, 2019

Submission Date

December 3, 2019

Acceptance Date

December 18, 2019

Published in Issue

Year 2019 Volume: 24 Number: 0

APA
Topcueri, M., & Keskin, M. (2019). Effectiveness of GNSS-based tractor auto steering systems in crop spraying. Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi Tarım Bilimleri Dergisi, 24, 78-90. https://izlik.org/JA45YN74ZN