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MONDAY 30 JUNE 2014 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside Searching CAMPUS • Winners of Senior sun for Design Contest storms announced P | 4 P | 6 MARKETPLACE • Slew of Ramadan events at Sharq Village and Spa The farm on Maryland’s eastern P | 5 shore is part of a growing “precision agriculture” movement FITNESS that uses high-tech tools to • Fitness programme replace seat-of-the-pants for people with farming. developmental disabilities P | 7 WHEELS • McLaren seeks do-over with $265,000 650S P | 11 TECHNOLOGY • Text-messaging isn’t actually ruining young PRECISION people’s grammar P | 12 FARMING IS LEARN ARABIC • Learn commonly used Arabic words HERE TO STAY and their meanings P | 13 2 PLUS | MONDAY 30 JUNE 2014 COVER STORY With new tech tools, precision farming gains traction BY ROB LEVER field to cut irrigation costs. At Little Bohemia Creek, the tractor’s sensors gauge the health T Little Bohemia Creek Farm of various segments of a field to deliver fer- in Warwick, United States, tilizer and other chemicals more efficiently, the tractor pretty much which has an environmental benefit. drives itself, weaving through “This technology allows for more intricate rows of corn using GPS tech- data collection to make decisions,” says Rich nology as it injects carefully Wildman of the agricultural consulting firm Adosed amounts of fertilizer. Farm employee Agrinetix, which provides technology advice Andrew Isaacson sits in the cab — his main at the farm. job is to monitor computer screens that con- This permits the farmer to “do more ferti- trol the vehicle and sprayer. lization or seed planting to match the needs “I just turn it around at each end,” he of a field within an inch variation,” he said. says. With computers guiding field opera- Various studies suggest farmers can save tions “it makes it easier in some ways but at between 10 to 20 percent on fertilizer and the same time it makes it harder. You have chemicals, while improving yields. to put more information in”. The farm on Maryland’s eastern shore is part of a growing “precision agriculture” movement that uses Farming in the cloud high-tech tools to replace seat-of-the-pants Little Bohemia Creek owner Jon Quinn, farming. 48, is using for the first time this year the GPS auto-steered tractors cut down or system called GreenSeeker, from California eliminate overplowing and overlap that tech firm Trimble. “I don’t know if I’m using wastes fuel and time. Other technologies can less nitrogen, but I’m putting it in the right sense just how much water is needed in a place,” Quinn explained. PLUS | MONDAY 30 JUNE 2014 3 If that holds true, the fertilizer will mainly be absorbed by the corn instead of running off into nearby rivers. Paul Spies of the Chester River Association, an environmental group, said Quinn is one of a handful of farmers in the pilot project, which aims to show the benefits of this technology. “You’re asking farmers to alter what they have been doing for years,” Spies said. “They want to see proof that it will work.” Quinn also participates in a “precision planting” project with Monsanto, using data from his field to determine how seeds fare in different soil types. “I download it to my iPad, and it goes to the cloud so they can see it,” he said. These technologies mean farmers need to crunch big data. “The real power is when you can take that data While corn and other so farmers can see how different parts of the field yielded and think about (crop) management grains have been changes,” said Joe Foresman, a specialist with the the main focus of DuPont precision farming division Pioneer. Jess Lowenberg-DeBoer, a Purdue University agri- precision agriculture, cultural economist, said that in the past 15 years, Florida-based technologies such as GPS and auto-steering have become the norm in mechanised farming in the AgerPoint seeks to United States and other countries, from Australia do the same for fruit to Kazakhstan to Sweden. trees and vineyards. “The economics are incredibly clear,” he said. “You make gains either with higher yield or lower costs, and sometimes with improved quality.” Purdue researchers found more than 80 percent of US farm equipment being sold includes these tech- nologies, which would mean hundreds of thousands Bowman, a University of Illinois crop specialist who the more money they make.” of farms. tests drones for farm use. The advances mean farmers need to consider For newer technologies like soil and crop sensors, But drone use is limited while US authorities study upgrading equipment like tractors and combines, mapping and analytics, Lowenberg-DeBoer said safety issues—an issue clouded by the more promi- which give them real-time data to view on smart- the picture is mixed, because specialised training nent drone applications for military and intelligence phones. “They’re all skeptical at first,” says Bryan is needed to reap benefits. Just seven percent of US purposes. “We would like to see common sense rules Peterman, a sales manager at Atlantic Tractor in farm dealers offered sensor-driven equipment in that look at the situation in agriculture,” Bowman Delaware. 2013, Purdue researchers found. said. “But this is a generational issue. You have the “It will transform agriculture but it’s not clear now While corn and other grains have been the younger generation who use smartphones and iPads exactly how it will do it,” he said. main focus of precision agriculture, Florida-based who are quick to use this. But we have to show the AgerPoint seeks to do the same for fruit trees and farmers that it is user-friendly and that it saves vineyards, using laser scanning to give producers money.” Bring in the drones data on plant health, and early hints on diseases and Dale Blessing, who farms on several thousand Also on the horizon is the use of drones to provide other problems. acres in Milford, Delaware, said he decided to add a real-time data to farmers to pinpoint crop problems “This next generation of growers want real-time harvesting combine with auto-steering which sends in time to fix them. access to all the data on their crops,” said AgerPoint data to the cloud and makes it available to him in “We can detect plant problems before they are president Thomas McPeek. “The more informed the real time. “It’s just more efficient,” he said. “You can detectable through the naked eye,” said Dennis growers become, the better decisions they make and make more with less.” AFP 4 PLUS MONDAY 30 JUNE 2014 CAMPUS Winners of Senior Design Contest announced enior students from under- graduate programmes at Qatar University’s College of SEngineering presented their projects in the Senior Design Contest on June 18 in front of a panel of judges from top companies in Qatar. Student teams from Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Systems, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Architecture and Urban Planning displayed innovative projects on topics ranging from road safety to sleep disorders, m-learning, power systems stability, and many others. The event which was sponsored by Qapco, Dolphin Energy, QChem and OXY Qatar, was attended by CENG Dean Dr Rashid Alammari, Associate Dean for Research and Post-graduate Programmes Prof Abdelmagid Hammuda, Qapco Senior Development Officer Abdulrahman Senior students from undergraduate programmes at Qatar University’s College of Engineering presented their projects in the Sultan Al Darwish, Qchem Training Senior Design Contest recently. and Development Superintendent Robin Ullrich, department heads, fac- engineering category were Fatma Civil engineering winners were followed by Abdelrahman Mossad ulty, and family members. Ahmad Fakhroo, Rawda Majid Al-Ali, Abdulaziz Al Qahoumi and Rashid Shouman, Mohamed Ahmed El Musab Almozieon, Mohammad and Alanood Hussain Al-Obaidly; 2nd Al-Zeyarra, followed by Ahmed Khamisy, and Nazar Salim Salim (2nd) Ebrahem, and Yousif Walid Elhdari place — Sara Abdulrahman Abdulla, Ibrahim Khodier, Hassan Ahmed and Abdulrahman Zayed Al Khayarin, won in the mechanical engineering Zaenab Mohamad Oumer, and Sara Hamad, and Md. Hasibur Rahman Mohammed Jamal, and Peter Ezzat Azer category with Ahmed Rafiq Sammour Shaukri Elthlatiny and 3rd place (2nd), and Firas Ahmed Al-Tweel, (3rd). and Mahmoud Jama Mahmoud plac- — Hanaa Dawoud Dawoud, Mona Mohammed Salah Salem, and Anas Dr Alammari congratulated the ing second, followed by Abdullah Mohd Qablawi, and Fae Sabeeh Alowas. Nasir Fahmi (3rd). winners and praised the creativ- Alnouss, Ahmed Rabie Sakr, and Ahmed The electrical engineering category In computer science, the win- ity and innovative spirit reflected in Emad Abdelmaged in third place. produced winners Ayat Al-Aswad ning teams were Nour Abdelmajid the projects, saying: “This is a clear First-place winners in the chemi- and Nada Hussein with Ihab Jehad Musa, and Waed Adel Hakouz (1st); demonstration of the quality of the cal engineering category were Alreem Aljayyousi, Ebrahim Saleh Alagi and Amena Abulqashem Jabalhoque, Rana academic and research environment Algaal, Noura Dowass, and Fatemeh Saad Abdeati Elasad in second place Noureddin Daas, and Salwa Mohammed at the College.” Thanking the spon- Khodadady, followed by Kousar Bastin and Ali Thaer Abed, Emad Zeyad Talebi (2nd) and Asma Amin Alkakouri, sors, he said: “We are proud to see how Takhti, Elham Salih, and Maryam Al Abou-Deiah, and Ahmad Mahmoud Asma Fuad Al-Dahshan, and Hajer relations between CENG and industry Abdulla in second place and Ruba Ali, Alshiekh in third place. Winners in Almouldi Mzoughi (3rd), while in continue to develop day by day, and are Waad Derar, Nur Elmasri, and Samah architecture and urban planning were computer engineering, Amna Khalid reaching new areas of communication, Mohamed in third place.