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The application of new technologies (e.g. Internet of Things, mechatronics, remote sensing) to the primary sector will reduce the production costs, limit the waste of primary materials, and reduce the release of polluting compounds into the environment. Precision agriculture (PA) has been growing in the last years thanks to industry efforts and development of applications for diagnostic purposes. Many applications in PA use vegetation indices to measure phenology parameters in terms of Leaf Area Index (LAI). In this context, the correlation of some vegetation indices were analyzed with respect to the durum wheat canopy, evaluating two different phenological stages (elongation and maturity). The results show that for the first stage of growth, the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) was the best-correlated vegetation index with LAI, while the Land Surface Water Index (LSWI) was more reliable for the following stage of growth. Considering trials findings, a fuzzy expert system was developed to combine EVI and LSWI, obtaining a new combined index (Case-specific Fuzzy Vegetation Index) that better represents the LAI in comparison with the single indices. Thus, this approach could give place to a better representative vegetation index of a different biological condition of the plant. It may also serve as a reliable method for wheat yield forecasting and stress monitoring.

Low frequency tags can be safely implanted in 4 grape hybrids.Tags can be applied to one-year-old grafted rootlings.Hot water treatments against phytoplasmas can be integrated with tagging procedures.Semi-internal implants of UHF tags did not cause concerns about plant health. In order to adapt tracking implants in grapevine to production practices, four rootstocks belonging to two common Vitis hybrids V. berlandieri×V. riparia (420 A, Kober 5BB, SO4) and V. berlandieri×V. rupestris (1103 Paulsen) were tagged with radio frequency tags using the available methods: direct drilling of the pith from the distal cut of the rootstock or a "U" cut performed laterally on the rootstock below the grafting point. Tests were also combined with hot water treatments against phytoplasmas or applied to one-year-old grafted rootlings ready for transplantation in the vineyard to reduce tagging costs. In addition, novel health-compliant methodologies for ultra-high frequency (UHF) tagging were evaluated. To assess the effects of tag implantation in rootstocks, plant viability, functional vascular tissue area and tag reliability were calculated, as well as the effects of phytopathogenic fungi on wounds produced by tagging. The tagging procedure did not cause significant effects on viability and functional vascular tissue area. Tag reliability was set at more than 96%. Fungal infections caused less than 1% of infected vascular tissue area and tagging methods could be integrated with hot water treatments against phytoplasmas. Tracking implants were applied successfully to one-year-old rootlings that were ready for transplantation, even if tag reliability decreased. Novel semi-internal implants of UHF tags did not cause concerns about plant health but tags were exposed to environmental stress or fortuitous damage during farming practices.

An experimental trial was commenced in January 2007 of a traceability system for grapevine plants produced in a nursery and for electronic management of vineyards. The main objective was producing grafted cuttings using common nursery procedures, but in which were internally installed Radio Frequency Identification chips. The trial used five common Tuscan grapevine clones. The modified plants were indistinguishable from unmarked plants, and will maintain this electronic feature throughout their life. The marked plants can be easily monitored, and will be able to supply various information, including identity, growth parameters, susceptibility to biotic stress factors, and productivity. All information is available by a website accessing a database, guaranteeing that users (e.g. nursery workers, grapevine growers, and plant pathologists) can use online access to retrieve information on every marked plant.