CNHi and the team of Professor Geert Haesaert of the Ghent University will develop an Agronomic Precision Decision-Making Tool (APDT). This decision tool will be fully integrated into the Facility Management Information System (FMIS) of CNHi. The APDT will help farmers to integrate complex geospatial data coming from many agronomic sources. The data will be used to provide information for farmers on how to maximize their yields while reducing their operational costs and complying with the actual and upcoming legislation including Water Framework Directive, the Nitrate Directive and the From Farm To Fork Strategy.

“The integration of an APDT on our FMIS platform has the potential to significantly enhance the sustainability of the agribusinesses, through the reduction of both fertilizers and crop protection products while increasing yield” says Paul Snauwaert, Advanced Technology and Innovation Manager at CNHi. “Although precision farming evolves very fast and offers great opportunities, the adoption of precision farming in Flanders is lacking behind. Via the collaboration between UGent and our R&D centre in Zedelgem we hope to facilitate the adoption of precision farming technologies in Flanders.”

The project focusses on the use of innovative proximal sensors available in the AGXTEND portfolio of CNHi and remote sensing technologies like satellites, which generate substantial information wherefore no decision-making tools are available yet. Georeferenced data on soil and crop, information on the weather conditions, data from the farmer him/herself and satellite information of crop indices and previous seasons’ geospatial field data will be collected and integrated into a cloud-based APDT application.

“In this project, we will make use of our long standing expertise in crop husbandry to develop new algorithms to build a proof of concept for potato and wheat,” says Geert Haesaert, managing director of the UGent research station of Bottelare. “ In this project, we will focus on abiotic and biotic stresses in wheat and potato. With the development of the APDT we hope to deliver a tool to farmers to reduce the inputs of conventional crop protection products and mineral fertilizers in Flanders and Europe. “

CNH industrial (CNHi) is a global leader in the capital goods sector active in different industrial market segments, including agricultural equipment under 3 brands: Case IH, New Holland and Steyr. In Flanders, CNHI is the largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery with 2 sites: Zedelgem (± 3000 FTE) and Antwerp (± 1100 FTE). The Antwerp site is manufacturing tractor components, whereas the site in Zedelgem is the global center of excellence for the design and manufacturing of combines, balers and self-propelled Forage Harvesters (SPFH).

This project is partially funded by Vlaio.