EFFiTILL: An Efficient Tillage System for Tractors Fuel Consumption Reduction and GHG Emissions Mitigation

The current economical worldwide instabilities highlight the need for efficient solutions in agricultural production, in order to reduce production costs, increase productivity, and address climate change mitigation. The use of fossil fuel by agricultural tractors constitutes a major part of the carbon footprint of agricultural industry. EFFiTILL system operates as a useful tool in the hands of farmers, aiming to offer tillage optimization. The system’s hardware is composed of a 3D dynamometer of 6 loadcells, which is being hitched to the tractor and the implements, for monitoring of forces applied, and by a flow metering system for fuel quantity monitoring. The software of the system consists of a web platform and an Android app and allows real-time support of decision-making during tillage session. This way, tractor’s fuel consumption may be mapped, and improvement of tillage efficiency conditions can be achieved. Field experiment results indicate that a significant reduction of fuel consumption can be achieved with the use of EFFiTILL mapping software, together with the appropriate gear selection and engine speed during the session. This can be translated to a reduction of GHG emissions, as CO2 emissions are proportional to fuel consumption.

Keywords: Precision agriculture, Tillage, Tractor, Fuel, Consumption reduction, Tillage optimization, Energy efficiency, Agricultural equipment, GHG emissions, Climate change