Anuário Brasileiro do Arroz 2011 - Unemat

80
Air of
novelty
Tests with a robotic falcon
in trial fields are aimed at
improving the rice growing
methods, whilst providing new
alternative for rice growers
Upon being removed from the baggage compartment
of the car, after driving along dusty roads, the bird is
ready to conquer the skies in Cachoeirinha (RS). In the
hands of aeromodelist Pierre Rousseau (on the right),
the power to control the flight. Within the robotic bird,
a battery that allows for a thirty-minute view of the
Rice Experiment Station, run by the Rio Grande do Sul
Rice Institute (Irga). The time is enough for the initiative
to raise high hopes for the new technology to
represent even greener and more luxuriant rice fields.
On the field day, held on 3rd March 2011, Irga presented
the robotic falcon, developed in Italy and projected
in Spain, to a group of technicians and producers.
Its major function consists in scaring away from the ricefields
a bird known as Garibaldi, also called black-bird.
Biologist and falcon specialist Jeferson de Lima (on the
left) explains that, as the bird feeds on green seeds, it
could jeopardize the crop. Furthermore, he stresses that
the environment, a combination of water and seed, attracts
birds, as it is viewed as a wild-bird resting site.
Since 28th February, daily flights from 8 am to 6
pm have been conducted. During this time, the falcon
flew over a 60-km area in different manners. According
to Rousseau and Lima, the strategies changed over the
day, as they were directed in accordance with the presence
of bird flocks. Peter explained that, after a week,
the result began to be perceived. A reduction in the
number of Garibaldi and other birds was significant.
With the trial, a pioneer initiative in Brazilian fields,
it will be possible to establish the cost-benefit relation
of the project, which has led Irga to bet on the novelty.
The results will play a determining factor for the new
practice to be recommended and adopted by most rice
producers. As a matter of fact, they have already shown
very interested in the robotic falcon, comments Lima,
very satisfied with the unfolding of the activity. Within
this context, he comments, in the future, the technique
might join the robot with real birds, that is to say, joining
falcons with birds of prey. In the meantime, our
eyes gaze at the chance to provide the rice growing
sector with a novelty that goes beyond the limits of the
fields.