The need for precision and automation in agricultural machinery will continue to increase in the future in order to ensure the optimum development of crops with reliable yields and good quality, whilst reducing the use of pesticides and fertilisers. This means maintaining yields, saving costs and conserving the environment.

Amazone, the leaders in German innovation and technology, aim towards delivering intelligent crop production by focusing on solutions to many of the challenges they see for the future of agriculture. We take a look at some of the innovations that Amazone have brought to market and are in the process of developing and testing, which may impact the future of farming.

Innovations in fertilising technology
One of the challenges in precision spreading is the application of different fertilisers which have been mixed together either to save on the number of applications or operating costs. If the constituents have different physical characteristics, they segregate during spreading and are distributed over different working widths. This is more difficult at increasing working widths and finding the right setting for every constituent is usually impossible. Amazone has developed the EasyMix App, a tool which works out setting recommendations for blended fertilisers and determines the best possible compromise for diff erent mixtures.

The mySpreader App will be a combination of the existing FertiliserService App, which has been used successfully for many years, the relativerly new EasyCheck App (digital mobile test kit) and the EasyMix App. The mySpreader App will be the first allin-one package combining each of these tools for perfect spreader adjustment.

Further innovations in spreading technology have been developed with HeadlandControl for the ZA-TS, including further optimisation of the switching behaviour of the part-width section control, allowing for an even more precise automatic switching at the headland or in wedge-shaped fields.

Innovation in crop protection technology
An exciting innovation in crop protection comes in the form of the SmartSprayer joint project, where crop protection technology meets camera technology and expert knowledge with the combined expertise of Bosch, xarvioTM and Amazone. With SmartSprayer it is now possible to automatically detect weeds in row crops in real time (“green-in-green” detection), using software based on economic thresholds to make an application decision and perform partial area application of the latest crop protection technology down to individual plant level. Potential savings of between 20 and 60% is possible, since spraying only takes place when required.

Further development in weed control comes in the form of the new AmaSelect Spot with DroneLink which offers partarea, site-specific weed treatment based on highly accurate drone photographs. The area to be treated is flown over by a drone equipped with a special RGB camera suitable for mapping. The photosare then geo-tagged, and the individual pictures are merged into a total map. The DroneLink software then analyses the map and physical crop plants as opposed to individual weeds which are separated by using artificial intelligence.

One of the challenges in crop protection is the potential under-dosing or over-dosing of plant protection products when driving around bends. Over-dosing may lead to significant weakening of the crop or even total crop failure. Underdosing in the outside area may result in incomplete suppression of the weeds and fungal diseases and might lead to resistance development. These losses are now prevented by the AmaSelect CurveControl which keeps the application rate as constant as possible across the whole of the boom width when driving around bends.

Even more exciting is that Amazone has now gone further by introducing the latest in boom guidance by adding ContourControl active boom control and SwingStop vibration dampening to their Super L-2 and L-3 booms. The new active ContourControl boom guidance by Amazone offers innovative technology that fulfils the requirements of higher working speeds with the highest application precision as tested by the Julius Kühn Institute, where it scored the highest possible value of a 100 from a measuring index of 0 – 100. These results were sealed by the words of “A boom cannot follow the contour any better.”

With innovation in all areas of expertise, it is AMAZONE’s goal to continue to serve as the global specialist in “intelligent crop production” and the first port of call for farmers, contractors and machinery rings. We look forward to some of these innovations being available in the South and sub-Saharan African markets following their testing and viability by Amazone in Europe.

For more information on Amazone in South Africa, contact any of their authorised dealers or the importer directly: Tel: +27(0)33-330-5787, Falcon Agricultural Equipment www.falconequipment.co.za