Agrishow: crop protection 100% by robots and multifunctional truck for grains

For example, Solinftec announced the first farm 100% manned by robots to protect crops. The Baumgart Group property covers 10,000 hectares in Rio Verde, Goiás, focused on grain production, especially soybeans and corn.

According to Emerson Crepaldi, Solinftec Operations Director for South America, the client had already been testing the latest versions of Solix AG Robotics and chose this revolutionary model for insect and weed management.

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Profound operational change

“The future that people imagined is already present, a reality, not in 5, 10 or 20 years. It is moving towards smaller machines and less application of pesticides, more intelligently and sustainably. Agricultural robotics is a profound operational change,” he says.

According to Emerson, tests with Solix obtained, on average, 10 more sacks of soybeans per hectare in areas of Mato Grosso compared to neighbouring areas with the same input (seeds, fertilizers and pesticides) and climate conditions.

That is because Solix is the first technology developed to “live in the field”, like a sentinel, using artificial intelligence to monitor and care for each part of the farm plots, 24 hours per day. The robot, which operates through missions and task association with integrated pest management (IPM), reduced more than 90% of herbicide application in the post-emergence phase or desiccation and pre-planting operations in crops.

Solinftec maintains 40 robots on grain, sugar cane and HF farms in several states like Bahia, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo. In addition, another 40 units are in operation in the United States. “By the end of the year, another 40 units should be operating in Brazilian fields. In total, we should reach 150 to 170 units sold by the end of the year”, he informed. The price of Solix Ag Robotics was around R$ 350,000 (64,000 euros) at Agrishow.

Multifunctional truck for grains

Grunner presented the prototype of a new multifunctional and autonomous truck for managing grain crops. With an investment of R$16 million, the model also has an ethanol engine and will be available on the market from 2025.

The set brings together Mercedes-Benz trucks and the ADS Smart Machine automation system to reduce trips for loading and unloading, as well as greater efficiency to meet planting and harvesting windows.

Driven by the great demand for the model aimed at the sugarcane market, Grunner developed the new set that carries out activities such as soil correction, fertilization and grain transportation. The ‘transformer’ was voted one of Mercedes-Benz’s 10 best innovations.

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Cost reduction

The ADS Multi has a load capacity of 29m³, that is, 30 tons, and can operate autonomously at high speed, optimizing time, contributing to greater productivity and cost reduction.

In addition, it has a scale with load cells that allows real-time reading of the volume of grains in the bulk and fertilizers and correctives applied.

“One of the points that is in our DNA is to offer the market equipment from the field to the field. That is the reason the new ADS Multi was designed to solve challenges in grain crops”, explains the CEO of Grunner, Dénis Arroyo.