Agriculture

The use of EGNOS and Galileo satellite navigation systems can help farmers become more efficient, reduce their use of chemicals, and increase crop yields. By increasing the accuracy, availability, reliability and continuity of satellite signals, EGNOS and Galileo will remove barriers to precision agriculture.

                Farmers may also use EGNOS  for Variable Rate Application (VRA), a practice used in precision farming. VRA uses GNSS sensors, aerial images, and other information management tools to determine optimum herbicide doses, fertiliser requirements and other inputs. Farmers then save money, reduce environmental impacts and increase crop yields. Through VRA, farmers adjust doses to the variability observed in the field. For example, only sections of a field with weeds are treated with a herbicide.

Applied research in FieldFact, an FP7 project, has found that EGNOS and Galileo can be used in precision farming for the following applications:

• Tractor and implement guidance
• Variable ploughing, seeding and spraying
• Mechanical weeding
• Cow fertility detection
• Virtual fencing
• Land parcel identification and geo-traceability
• Post harvest pick-up
• Supervised tracking of livestock
• Field measurements
• Field boundary mapping and updating

 

It is clear that GNSS, particularly Galileo and EGNOS, can be very beneficial for agriculture.