On Wednesday we went on field visits to two farms. We felt that it was necessary to visit the farms again, to have a better understanding of the functioning of the farms and ask follow-up questions from the first visit. Furthermore, we now had more people accompanying us, most importantly the research assistants, who got to see how their work will make a difference.
Our first visit was to Ofélia and Paulo Marangoni’s farm in Gaspar. the previous visits had been very useful but for the technical aspects, we were able to clarify details regarding where to install the sensor. We also got a more business-oriented perspective from John Buglear and advice on how to make the project go further. Ofelia demonstrated how she does chemical testing and how cumbersome it is. Continuous automatic monitoring will definitely help in saving time.
In the afternoon, we went to Marcello Luchetta’s (who did a presentation during the workshop) farm in Saranduba, near Blumenau. His farm is a combination of aquaculture and palmito production. besides that, his brother produces cachaça, the national liquor at the farm, but independently from the farm business. Just as Ofélia and Paulo, he has now broadband internet, which will make using the sensor easier.
The TAF Project 