Stepping into precision agriculture: digitization of the Astarta soil science laboratory
The soil science laboratory was created eight years ago, and every year it improves. So, today the focus of her attention is assistance in the implementation of elements of precision agriculture and diversified application of fertilizers. And for this, you need to know everything about the soils that are under Astarte’s cultivation like the back of your hand. And what to do if you need to know everything about 220 thousand hectares? There is only one way out – to speed up this process as much as possible thanks to digitalization.
The AgriChain team, at the request of the specialists of the agricultural department of Astarta, developed and implemented a new functionality for the selection of soil samples and further work with them in the laboratory using the mobile application or the web version of the AgriChain Scout application. The soil sampling crew, using the route built in the application, reaches the desired field and takes samples, noting which sectors have already been sampled. At the same time, he uses only a mobile phone and a plastic card, which will carry information about this sample at the initial stage.
The laboratory team has access to information about the selected samples in the online mode. For each individual sample, the system generates a QR code that contains all the information about the enterprise, the field and its specific sector. After sample preparation, the QR codes are sent to the laboratory together with the soil for analysis.
Codes are read by ordinary tablets, which does not tie employees to a specific workplace and allows you to go through all stages of analysis without using paper and a pen. A window opens on the screen for entering data, which is immediately pulled into the general report.
The entire system is individually developed taking into account the specifics of the soil laboratory and the wishes of its employees, so it takes into account many details that significantly optimize work and significantly reduce the probability of error.
Each laboratory has its own nuances: a set of indicators, the number of dishes, the number of rooms with a certain arrangement of devices, the sequence of some processes, etc. For example, the soil science laboratory of Astarta makes some indicators from an area of 3 hectares, others – from 10-12 hectares.
Yes, the developed system takes into account even the size of the box that laboratory workers use to transfer samples, where the code, quantity in the batch and sequence of analyzes are pasted, etc.
Why is soil analysis necessary?
“Soil analysis is the foundation of effective agricultural production. The technology of growing crops is adjusted depending on the data that we have been receiving from the agrochemical laboratory for many years. Knowing the content of the main nutrients, we calculate the rates of fertilizers. But we can additionally adjust depending on the granulometric composition of the soil and acidity. Рh is also a determining indicator for determining the need for land reclamation. Today, taking into account the data of agrochemical analysis of the soil, we develop an individual approach to each field. As for the future, we are moving even more into precision agriculture in order to be able to work separately with different sections of the field, because the soils in our cultivation are very differentiated,” explains Victoria Oliynyk, agrochemist of the Astarta agronomic service.
Innovations allow you to avoid paper work, manual data processing during preparation and obtaining results, and also reduce the likelihood of errors as a result of incorrect interpretation, damage to paper media, etc.
The IT company AgriChain, among the top three, joined the first digitization of the transport sector in Ukraine: the introduction of the e-TTN electronic waybill. The company has already passed testing on interaction with the e-TTN Electronic Document Management System – a software complex that enables registration, accounting and exchange of electronic goods and transport invoices between participants in road freight transport.
According to the results of testing, AgriChain received recommendations from the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine regarding the finalization of its software. Testing of other providers that have joined the project will continue.
Despite the fact that the use of an electronic waybill will become mandatory for Ukrainian business only after our victory and the end of martial law, EDO providers are already able to undergo testing for interaction with the e-TTN System. Thus, from January 2023, companies participating in the market will be able to start familiarizing themselves with the features of using e-TTN and teach their employees how to fill out the electronic document.
The implementation of the e-TTN system is carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine with the support of the USAID / UK aid project “Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services/TAPAS” and with the participation of the NGO “Institute of Analytics and Advocacy” , which is the administrator of the e-TTN system during the project implementation period.
About the company:
AgriChain IT solutions are created for large and medium-sized agribusinesses, individual applications solve the problems of agricultural producers cultivating from 5,000 hectares.
Contacts:
sales@agrichain.ua –
sales department
support@agrichain.ua –
technical support service
info@agrichain.ua –
office manager
Office address:
Developed in Ukraine
About the company:
AgriChain IT solutions are created for large and medium-sized agribusinesses, individual applications solve the problems of agricultural producers cultivating from 5,000 hectares.
sales@agrichain.ua – sales department
support@agrichain.ua – technical support service
info@agrichain.ua – office manager
