Project / Goal – persica

The upward trend in peach exports over the last five years is largely due to the adoption and application of modern cultivation methods for the production of high-quality products. Today, and in view of the new international commitments on sustainable development and climate change, the agri-food sector needs to be modernized even further and become more coherent with the communication and information sectors. The conclusions adopted in 2017 by the G20 Council of Agriculture Ministers and the revision of the CAP set the basis for agricultural systems aiming at managing natural resources more efficiently and minimizing environmental impacts.

The answer can be found through reduced-input and thus reduced carbon footprint agriculture based on the application of farming practices according to the actual needs of the plants in space and time. To date, in Greek conditions, it is customary to add inputs by experience, which has led to the degradation of soil and water ecosystems and the emergence of diseases associated with over-irrigation.

Project objective: Persica aims to improve input management in peach crops using intelligent farming systems and to reduce the carbon footprint by applying intelligent farming. This will lead to an integrated and user-friendly system, which, beyond the environmental benefits, can be used by cooperatives to add value to their products through the production of labelled products.

Project Stages:
In the first phase, a Geodatabase will be created to record all the data – parameters of the carbon footprint calculation system. This data will include observations and measurements related to the field and the crop, measurements related to the environment using Earth Observation tools and accounting data (input records, fuel consumption, etc.). Geodatabase will be linked to a data visualisation platform. The platform will be both a visualisation tool for the pilot applications and a means of disseminating the results of the project. A key part of the platform will be the carbon footprint calculation system: A system will be developed to translate management practices and inputs to the production-processing system into a carbon footprint. Factors from international databases will be used to convert inputs into CO2 equivalent. At the same time, the same platform will provide guidance on how to manage farm inputs according to the principles of intelligent agriculture. For the above two systems, carbon footprint calculation system and intelligent agriculture application system, the respective protocols will be developed to ensure the sustainability of the systems. Finally, the results of the project will be disseminated through the production of promotional material and information and promotion activities.

Project Stages:

In the first phase, a Geodatabase will be created to record all the data – parameters of the carbon footprint calculation system. This data will include observations and measurements related to the field and the crop, measurements related to the environment using Earth Observation tools and accounting data (input records, fuel consumption, etc.). Geodatabase will be linked to a data visualisation platform. The platform will be both a visualisation tool for the pilot applications and a means of disseminating the results of the project. A key part of the platform will be the carbon footprint calculation system: A system will be developed to translate management practices and inputs to the production-processing system into a carbon footprint. Factors from international databases will be used to convert inputs into CO2 equivalent. At the same time, the same platform will provide guidance on how to manage farm inputs according to the principles of intelligent agriculture. For the above two systems, carbon footprint calculation system and intelligent agriculture application system, the respective protocols will be developed to ensure the sustainability of the systems. Finally, the results of the project will be disseminated through the production of promotional material and information and promotion activities.

One way to modernise and improve peach cultivation is to apply reduced carbon footprint methods, which is not yet widespread in this type of crop and is an innovative element of the proposed action plan. Persica will build on existing experience in data collection, fusion and processing and will develop a specific algorithm to convert this data into a carbon footprint.

More specifically, the proposed innovation is to:

Mapping peach crop management practices into CO₂ equivalent units which will highlight which practices or inputs are responsible for the crop’s carbon footprint.
The implementation of management practices based on the principles of reduced input agriculture.
The capture of these reduced inputs as a reduced carbon footprint, unique in Greek conditions, since similar efforts were translated as reduced production costs, or reduced degree of ecosystem degradation, but not in measured units of CO₂ equivalent.