\nM\u00e1quinas Agr\u00edcolas Jacto
\nR&D Center<\/strong>
\nPompeia, S\u00e3o Paulo
\nHeadcount<\/strong>
\n3,429 (156 at R&D Center)
\nMain products<\/strong>
\nSprayers, fertilizer spreaders, coffee harvesters, and precision farming equipment<\/div>\n
The concept is that autonomous vehicles will work together as a fleet on the same field, exchanging information with each other on farm tasks and being monitored at a distance by a single operator. Driverless farming will also require better rural connectivity, with a denser distribution of telecommunications antennas.<\/p>\n
Despite these constraints, Jacto plans to produce an experimental batch of three to five JAVs in 2019, equipped with a new generation of sensors for an additional season of controlled testing with other customers. If this second round of testing is successful, the company will consider a commercial launch of the vehicle, but only for applications in which it has proven to perform well.<\/p>\n
Sergio Sartori J\u00fanior says that work on developing the JAV is also helping Jacto to improve products already on the market, such as its Uniport sprayer platform. In 2017 the company launched Omni 700, a new version of its suite of solutions for precision agriculture\u2014a concept that describes the use of technology to manage crop production with greater precision and accuracy. The system is the first in the world to offer an operation repeater with which the operator can record the parameters used for spraying on each section of a field.<\/p>\n
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L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves<\/span><\/a> A navigation mechanism being testedL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n The previous version already incorporated functionality such as autopilot and lightbar systems, which help operators to apply pesticides in parallel strips with no gaps or overlaps. The system allows pesticide spray nozzles, which are spaced 35 centimeters apart on a boom up to 36 meters wide, to be individually actuated to target infected plants. Diseased plants are identified by a vegetative index sensor.<\/p>\n Jacto\u2019s automation expertise also supported the development and 2017 launch of its Uniport 5030 NPK fertilizer spreader. The new product features functionality such as Precision Way, a system for precisely dosing fertilizer at each application point; border control, which prevents fertilizer from being thrown beyond the boundary of the field; and automatic section control, which lays out adjacent application sections to avoid overlaps. Automated systems can reduce fertilizer consumption by up to 15%.<\/p>\n CEO Fernando Gon\u00e7alves Neto says that technological development in the farming machinery industry is currently being driven by two fundamental principles: eco-efficiency and productivity. The more precise the machinery, the less farmers spend on farm inputs, and the lesser the environmental impacts and health effects on farm workers, who are less exposed to chemicals (see article<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves<\/span><\/a> Professor Jos\u00e9 Vitor Salvi delivering a lecture at the Precision Agriculture Laboratory at FATEC PompeiaL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Agribusiness professionals<\/strong> FATEC Pompeia has 30 professors and two major programs. The first, mechanization in precision farming, trains professionals (agricultural production engineers) to work with emerging technologies in agriculture. Electrical engineer Tsen Chung Kang, a professor who codeveloped the program, explains that students learn both theory and practice at a facility with equipment worth R$3.5 million, supplied by 93 partner companies. \u201cStudents learn about the entire value chain, from seeds and fertilizers, through planting and harvesting equipment, to ERP software and distribution logistics,\u201d he says. The three-year program has trained more than 500 engineers so far. \u201cAlmost all students are employed by the time they complete the program, and will work at companies or farms using these technologies in their production processes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n When the program was created, in 2012, only one other school\u2014in Oklahoma, USA\u2014offered a comparable program, which was subsequently discontinued. Two years ago another equivalent program was created in South Dakota. FATEC was recently visited by delegates from Mexico and China keen to learn about the teaching methodology. Kang is also part of the group that developed the Big Data in Agribusiness program in 2017, the only program of its kind anywhere in the world. The goal, according to Kang, is to meet market demand for professionals with the skills to handle the vast amount of information generated by onboard technologies and integrate that information with the data used by processing companies downstream. The three-year program is currently in its third class.<\/p>\n
\nDeveloping professionals with the skills to deal with technology and an interest in working in agriculture has become a challenge, and one which Jacto has worked to address. Company executives convinced Centro Paula Souza (CPS), the organization managing Brazil\u2019s School of Technology (FATEC) network, to set up a campus in Pompeia, a small town with a population of just 21 thousand, despite the network\u2019s policy of opening schools only in cities with a population greater than 120 thousand. The school was created under a private-public partnership agreement\u2014the first to be concluded by CPS\u2014with Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Shunji Nishimura de Tecnologia, a trust established to manage the estate of Jacto\u2019s founder.<\/p>\n