NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges in precision agriculture and environmental technologies

安大略省是加拿大主要的玉米生产地，28，000名农民创造了25亿加元的农场收入和超过90亿加元的经济产出，为该省提供了40，000多个就业机会。安大略省也是加拿大葡萄和葡萄酒生产的领导者，提供了14，000个就业机会和约33亿加元的经济影响;在安大略有超过500个葡萄种植者，种植超过53,252吨葡萄。榛子是安大略的一种新作物，但有望成为一种利润丰厚的作物，每英亩成熟的榛子树可带来高达2,800美元的收入。位于布兰特福德的费列罗工厂每年消耗10，000吨带壳榛子;以每英亩产量约1吨计算，安大略的目标是种植10，000至30，000英亩。Mike邓肯博士是NSERC精确农业与环境技术学院工业研究主席（IRCC）。精准农业涉及使用通过传感器收集的数据来指导农场的决策，以最大限度地提高盈利能力和环境管理。及早知道霜冻何时威胁葡萄并采取缓解措施可以挽救宝贵的作物;提前发现枯萎病可能发展的地方可以阻止其传播;管理肥料在田地中的分布可以节省资金并减少流入水道的径流。这些都是精准农业帮助农场变得更有利可图、更有竞争力和更环保的方式。这项提案旨在将邓肯博士的NSERC IRCC资金再延长5年。与往年一样，主席的研究重点仍将是经济作物（玉米、小麦、大豆）、葡萄园（葡萄）和树木作物（榛子），以期进一步推动精准农业在这些领域的应用。在技术上，研究将集中在远程静态气象观测站（微气象塔）和动力学（地面漫游车、无人驾驶飞行器）测量工具收集实地数据并通过互联网将其传输到带有决策支持工具的云服务器。

Ontario is the leading corn producer in Canada; with 28,000 grain farmers generating $2.5 billion in farm-gatereceipts and more than $9 billion in economic output, providing more than 40,000 jobs in the province.Ontario is also the Canadian leader of grape and wine production, providing 14,000 jobs and approximately$3.3 billion in economic impact; there are over 500 grape growers in Ontario, growing over 53,252 tons ofgrapes. Hazelnuts are a new crop to Ontario, but promise to be a lucrative one, bringing up to $2,800 per acrefor mature trees. The Ferrero plant in Brantford consumes 10,000 tons of shelled hazelnuts per year; atapproximately 1 ton per acre of production, a goal for Ontario would be to plant 10,000 to 30,000 acres.Dr. Mike Duncan is the NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges (IRCC) in Precision Agriculture &Environmental Technologies. Precision Agriculture involves using data gathered through sensors to informdecisions on a farm to maximize profitability and environmental stewardship. Knowing early when adangerous frost threatens grapes and deploying mitigating measures can save a valuable crop; detecting where ablight could develop ahead of time will stop its propagation; managing how fertilizer is spread in a field savesmoney and reduces run-offs into the waterways. These are all ways in which precision agriculture helps farmsbecome more profitable, more competitive, and more environmentally responsible.This proposal seeks to renew for another 5 years Dr. Duncan's NSERC IRCC funding. As in previous years,the focus of the Chair's research will remain on Cash Crops (corn, wheat, soy), Vineyards (grapes), and TreeCrops (Hazelnuts), with a view to push much farther the use of precision agriculture for each of these sectors.Technologically, the research will center on the development of remote static (micrometeorology tower) andkinetic (ground rovers, unmanned aerial vehicles) measurement tools gathering field data and transmitting itthrough the internet to a cloud-based server with decision-support tools.