Project Description

Agribusiness is an extremely important activity for the Brazilian economy. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of agribusiness in 2014 represented 23.0% of the total GDP of the Brazilian economy. This means that R$ 1.1 trillion of the wealth produced in the country came from agriculture and livestock. Despite this good performance, there is a consensus in the sector that much can still be improved through the contribution of technologies that help increase productivity and reduce environmental impacts.

Precision agriculture has been getting stronger in recent years, not only due to economic aspects, but also due to environmental aspects. This area of science recommends that the management of agricultural production consider the heterogeneity of field conditions and, consequently, the spatial and temporal variability of the production system. In this way, the rational application of inputs, in addition to generating savings for the producer, is more environmentally sustainable. However, in order to be able to map soil conditions, productivity and disease infestation, in addition to georeferenced systems, the development of specific instrumentation for each of these factors becomes essential. In addition, environmental monitoring has also required new tools that allow real-time monitoring so that rapid interventions can be made to mitigate environmental impacts.

At the Optics and Photonics Laboratory of Embrapa Instrumentação, affiliated to CEPOF, the optical properties of materials of interest to agribusiness are studied in order to make new technological tools available to the production system. The focus of this line of research is mainly the development of methods, protocols and equipment for use in the field that can be shipped and enable the mapping of large agricultural sectors. Currently, the laboratory applies the use of these techniques for the analysis of soils, fertilizers, water and for the early diagnosis of plant diseases, especially in citrus and soy.

Equipe da Embrapa envolvida nas pesquisas relacionadas à Óptica Aplicada a Agricultura e Meio Ambiente.