Agrovoltaic Day ENERGY + CROPS: A double use of the land

The Agricultural and Agri-Food Technology Centre ( ITAGRA ) is organizing the conference “Agrovoltaics = energy + crops. A double use of the land” , which will take place on Wednesday, February 26 at the Palace of the Provincial Council of Palencia. Experts in the subject will talk about the current state of this technology, the financing of projects, and the innovative examples that exist in Castilla y León, among other issues. During this conference, the GO CONTROL project will be disseminated.

About the CONTROL Operational Group

The Task Force on Optimization and improvement of the efficiency of solar irrigation through the use of digital technology, applying artificial intelligence (GO CONTROL), is framed in the context of water needs in the field. One of the greatest limitations in agriculture is knowing when to irrigate and in what quantity. Technological innovation is the key to solving this and the great revolution of ICT technologies, sensors and automatic processing capacity has opened up new possibilities for water and energy optimization. The compatibility of solar irrigation with digital technology would make it possible to stop this phenomenon of depopulation in rural areas, contributing to improving economic performance and creating value in these spaces. Women have a key role in the rural world that can be enhanced by activities that generate economies induced by the principal.

The group's objectives are:

• Transforming agriculture into a smart and highly technological sector, applying digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in solar irrigation and crop development.
• Digital technologies and AI, through the use of sensors and drones to validate results, will improve the efficiency of solar irrigation, making the most of natural resources and reducing water and energy consumption.
• Process analysis and definition of control algorithms will enable the development of applications for farmers' devices.