AgroTwin 2

Precision Agriculture in the Field

AgroTwin 2 is a research project applying sensor networks and connected systems to crop monitoring. Its work focuses on irrigation and fertigation decisions, using real-time data to help manage water and fertilizer use and reduce agriculture’s environmental impact.

Trials in Greenhouses, Orchards, and Open Fields

Protected-crop trials take place in two greenhouses at the University of Almería’s Fundación UAL-ANECOOP experimental farm. One greenhouse uses natural ventilation and climate control; the other has more advanced climate-control and sensing systems. The project also studies Hass avocados at the Las Angustias farm in Motril and cereal crops in open fields.

Connected Sensors and Irrigation Systems

Equipment includes weather stations; sensors for carbon dioxide, soil moisture and water potential, and plant conditions; and monitors for irrigation-water quality, electricity use, tank levels, flow, and pressure. Data travels over LoRaWAN and 4G networks, with local network connections used where available.

Using Data to Guide Water and Nutrients

AgroTwin 2 has developed irrigation programs that adjust water delivery based on soil-moisture readings and weather-station data. Its fertigation programs adjust nutrients according to soil conditions and crop needs. The project reports that calibration and evaluation studies found improvements in productivity alongside reduced water and fertilizer use.

Monitoring and Image Analysis

A Grafana-based platform displays sensor readings in charts and dashboards, while PostgreSQL databases store data for analysis and predictive models. In a greenhouse computer-vision study, researchers manually labeled images of leaves, fruit, and possible signs of disease to train a YOLO neural network. The model was then applied to greenhouse video to detect and classify crop features frame by frame.