Administrative unit: University of Padova Department: Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (LEAF) ___________________________________________________________________ PhD Program: Land, Environment, Resources and Health (LERH) Batch: XXX Introducing innovative precision farming techniques in agriculture to decrease carbon emissions. PhD Program Coordinator: Prof. Davide Matteo Pettenella Supervisor: Luigi Sartori PhD candidate: Donato Cillis Summary 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Soil tillage systems ............................................................................................................................. 4 1.2 Precision Agriculture ......................................................................................................................... 9 1.2.1 Introduction and definition ....................................................................................................... 9 1.2.2 Evolution over the time ............................................................................................................. 9 1.2.3 Components of the variability ................................................................................................. 11 1.2.4 Study of the variability: yield maps ......................................................................................... 12 1.2.5 Study of the variability: soil features and data collection ....................................................... 13 1.2.6 Study of the variability: homogeneous zones classification .................................................... 14 1.2.7 Precision Agriculture application ............................................................................................. 15 1.2.7.1 Soil tillage operations .......................................................................................................... 15 1.2.7.2 Planting operation ............................................................................................................... 16 1.2.7.3 Fertilizers application .......................................................................................................... 16 1.2.7.4 Pesticides applications: herbicides and fungicides .............................................................. 16 1.2.7.5 Irrigation .............................................................................................................................. 17 1.2.8 Economic and environmental benefits .................................................................................... 17 1.3 Precision agriculture and soil tillage systems .................................................................................. 18 1.3.1 Conservation precision agriculture .......................................................................................... 18 1.3.2 Site-specific soil tillage based on maps ................................................................................... 18 1.3.3 Site-specific soil tillage based on sensors ................................................................................ 19 1.3.4 Site-specific management tools .............................................................................................. 20 1.3.5 Soil compaction management ................................................................................................. 21 1.3.6 Management information systems and predictive models .................................................... 23 1.4 Research synopsis and objectives ................................................................................................... 26 2 Field-scale electrical resistivity profiling mapping for delineating soil condition in a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone. ................................................................................................................................................................ 27 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 27 2.2 Material and methods ..................................................................................................................... 28 2.2.1 Experimental site and agronomic management ..................................................................... 28 2.2.2 Study of the field-variability .................................................................................................... 29 2.2.3 Electrical resistivity, soil features, and crop yields .................................................................. 31 2.2.4 Homogeneous zones characterization and yield potential definition .................................... 32 2.3 Results and discussions ................................................................................................................... 32 2.3.1 Relationship between crop yield and soil features ................................................................. 32 2.3.2 Homogeneous zones characterization and yield potential definition .................................... 35 2.4 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................... 36 3 Conservative Precision Agriculture: an assessment of technical feasibility and energy efficiency within the LIFE+ AGRICARE project. ........................................................................................................................... 38 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 38 3.2 Materials and methods ................................................................................................................... 39 3.2.1 Study area and agronomic management ................................................................................ 39 3.2.2 Study of the variability ............................................................................................................. 40 3.2.3 Data collection ......................................................................................................................... 43 3.3 Results ............................................................................................................................................. 43 3.4 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................... 45 4 Modeling soil organic carbon and carbon dioxide emissions in different tillage systems supported by precision agriculture technologies under current climatic conditions. ........................................................... 46 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 46 4.2 Material and Methods ..................................................................................................................... 48 4.2.1 Study area and climate data .................................................................................................... 48 4.2.2 Tillage systems and agronomic management ......................................................................... 49 4.2.3 Study of the variability and homogeneous zones management ............................................. 50 4.2.4 Overview of Systems Approach to Land Use Sustainability (SALUS) model ............................ 51 4.2.5 Data collection ......................................................................................................................... 52 4.3 Results ............................................................................................................................................. 54 4.3.1 SALUS model validation ........................................................................................................... 54 4.3.2 SOC mid-term simulation ........................................................................................................ 56 4.3.3 CO2 emissions related to farming operations.......................................................................... 59 4.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 59 4.5 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 61 5 Discussion and conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 62 6 Annex1: Traffic effects on soil compaction and sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.) taproot quality parameters ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………68 6.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 68 6.2 Materials and methods ................................................................................................................... 70 6.2.1 Experimental site ..................................................................................................................... 70 6.2.2 Description of the experiment ................................................................................................ 70