About the project
Revolutionising mechanical weeding in cotton
In the PreWeM project, fingerweeders are being investigated for their effectiveness in cotton farming. Weed management in cotton typically involves pre-emergence herbicides (usually glyphosate), complemented sometimes by two or three post-emergence applications. Currently, mechanical weed control between rows and manual weeding within rows are the only alternatives to chemical herbicides. It is planned to test and adapt fingerweeders for cotton for intra-row weed control. Fingerweeders have been proven in maize, sugar beet, and soybean crops. With PreWeM, we will identify specific challenges associated with cotton cultivation in Greece based on the knowledge and expertise we have gained from these crops. One of Greece’s most herbicide-dependent crops will be weeded mechanically using precision agriculture techniques to reduce herbicide use.
About ELGO - DIMITRA
Institute of Soil and Water Resources, Department of Agricultural Engineering, of Hellenic Agricultural Organization – DIMITRA
Key members
Project Coordinator
Peteinatos Gerassimos
Agricultural Engineer, Electrical and Computer Engineer, Researcher (Grade C, Precision Agriculture with emphasis on Agricultural Machinery), Institute of Soil and Water Resources, ELGO-DIMITRA. Degree, Agricultural University of Athens (GPA) and National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and PhD (Precision Agriculture) at the University of Hohenheim, Germany. Research interests: Precision Agriculture, Weed Management Engineering, Mapping with SEM. In the last 5 years he has been involved as principal investigator in 3 projects and participated as researcher in 7 others. He has participated as guest editor in 5 special issues and is a subject editor in Agronomy magazine. He is treasurer of the Hellenic Weed Society and was a member of the organizing committee of a workshop, a Greek conference and the local organizing committee of the 19th Symposium of the European Weed Research Society. He has authored 43 publications in peer-reviewed journals and 40 publications in conferences (citations = 933, h-index = 19). He holds a patent from the Österreichische’s Patentamt.
Scientific Manager
Katsenios Nikolaos
Agronomist, Postdoctoral Researcher. Institute of Soil and Water Resources, ELGO-DIMITRA. PhD from the Agricultural University of Athens with specialization in large-scale crops, propagating material, plant biofertilizers, weed management, fertilization and plant nutrition. He has 15 years of academic experience as a scientist, postdoctoral researcher and contract assistant professor. He has worked at the Agricultural University of Athens and at the Institute of Soil and Water Resources of the Hellenic Agricultural Organisation-Dimitra in various projects (LIFE, etc.) and at the Agricultural University of Athens and the University of Thessaly as Assistant Professor under contract. His research activity includes participation in several research projects (more than 11 years), 40 publications in international journals with influential index (Scopus ID: 55144051100, 482 citations, h-index: 13, total influence index: 113.992), 2 book chapters and 31 publications in national and international conferences. He is experienced in setting up experimental fields to evaluate new cultivation techniques, fertilizers and plant protection products, as well as plant biostimulants.
Technical Expert
Glykos Ioannis
Agronomist, R&D Engineer. Research Associate at the Institute of Soil and Water Resources, ELGO-DIMITRA and Eight Bells LTD. Graduate in Natural Resource Management and Agricultural Engineering, AUA with excellence in performance. PhD Candidate “Development of Prototype Agricultural Robotic Systems and Accessories”, AUA. He has experience in European and national research projects and his research interests are focused around precision agriculture, machine vision systems and IoT. He has published in 4 international/national conferences and 1 workshop, holds an A1&A3 open class SFE pilot license.