1st Workshop BOOK - project RHEA

A Five-Step Approach for Planning a Robotic Site-Specific Weed Management
Program for Winter Wheat
Effect of thermal and mechanical weed control on garlic
Christian Frasconi, Marco Fontanelli, Michele Raffaelli, Luisa Martelloni and
Andrea Peruzzi
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CIRAA “E. Avanzi”, University of Pisa, Via Vecchia di Marina 6, 56010 S. Piero a
Grado PI, Italy
(e-mail: cfrasconi@agr.unipi.it)
Abstract: Vessalico is a small village close to Imperia (Liguria, Italy), where garlic is a
typical crop. The garlic of Vessalico is one of the most traditional and top quality
foods in Italy. A study was carried out on the possibility of introducing a
mechanization chain to solve the main agronomic problems of garlic cultivation in
this area, such as planting, weed control and harvesting, which would thus improve
garlic yield and quality. Ordinary organic garlic crop management was compared
with an innovative system in which physical weed control was carried out using a
rolling harrow, two flame weeding machines and a precision hoe. The innovative
treatments increased the whole plant and bulb dry weight by approximately 38%
and 78% respectively, and reduced weed biomass at harvest by up to 77%.
1. Introduction
Vessalico is a village (Latitude 44°3 N, Longitude 7°58’ E) in the district of Imperia,
Liguria, NW Italy. The farms in this area are very small, and crops are grown in small
terraced plots. As a result, operative machines must be easy to handle and not
cumbersome. Garlic is the main crop in this area, it is sold as a dried or processed
high quality product, and is famous worldwide. Furthermore all the garlic
cultivation in the area is organic, which provides added value to the crop. The
division of Agriculture Engineering and Farm Mechanization Department of
Agronomy and Agro-Ecosystem Management and the Centro Interdipartimentale di
Ricerche Agro-Ambientali “Enrico Avanzi” of the University of Pisa, in collaboration
with the Agriculture and Civil Defence department of Liguria and the “A Resta”
Cooperative of farmers carried out a study on the possibility of introducing a
mechanization chain to solve the main agronomic problems involved in the
cultivation of garlic in this area, such as planting, weed control and harvesting,
which would thus improve garlic yield and quality (Peruzzi et al. 2007).
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