Conference Workshops
These workshops are an optional, add on to the 17th ICPA and 11th ConBAP. The workshops will all take place on Monday, July 13th.
Conference attendees may add-on the Workshop for an additional $25USD (or BRL 120) during the registration process. If you have already registered, you can add the workshop by sending your request to conference@ispag.org. Capacity is limited to 25 people per workshop.
Applications of Management Zones in Precision Agriculture Using the Precision Zones Plugin in QGIS
Instructors: Derlei Dias Melo and Lucas Rios do Amaral
Start Time: TBA Duration: TBA
This short course presents, in a guided and applied manner, the use of the Precision Zones plugin in QGIS for the delineation and evaluation of Management Zones (MZ) in precision agriculture. Participants will learn the complete workflow to integrate raster layers (e.g., vegetation indices, relief, electrical conductivity, remote and proximal sensing products), perform pre-processing, apply dimensionality reduction (PCA), and execute cluster segmentation to generate operational zone maps. Criteria for evaluating zone quality will also be covered, focusing on reducing attribute variability and choosing the number of zones, in addition to best practices for exporting results and organizing the project in QGIS.
By the end, the participant will be able to configure the QGIS environment, prepare inputs, execute ZM delineation with Precision Zones, and interpret the main outputs to support variable rate management and directed sampling decisions.
Target audience: Students, Researchers, and Professionals in Agriculture, Geotechnologies, and Precision Agriculture
Requirements: Basic knowledge of QGIS and PA. Participants, please bring your laptop to the workshop
Language: Portuguese
Drones as a Tool for Digital Agriculture in Soil and Water Management and Conservation
Instructor: André Müllich
Start Time: TBA Duration: TBA
The use of drones in agriculture has evolved rapidly; however, it is still underutilized in one of the most strategic areas of agricultural production: conservation planning of the terrain.
This short course proposes a practical and applied approach on how to use imaging drones for planialtimetric digitalization of agricultural areas, focusing on soil and water management and conservation. Based on the generation of digital surface and terrain models (DSM/DTM), techniques will be demonstrated for extracting contour lines, slope analysis, identifying areas with higher erosion potential, and risk zoning for soil loss.
Based on these digital products, participants will learn how to transform raw data into technical decisions, developing projects such as contour-aligned planting, terrace planning, containment lines, and optimization of agricultural machinery traffic, integrating digital agriculture with classical conservation practices.
The workshop’s differential lies in connecting accessible technology (mapping drones), specialized software processing, and agronomic application based on soil conservation principles.
Target audience: Students, Researchers, and PA Companies
Language: English
Electrical Conductivity as a Strategy for Site-Specific Management
Instructors: Telmo Jorge Carneiro Amado and Eduardo Leonel Bottega
Start Time: TBA Duration: TBA
Electrical conductivity as a strategy to improve site-specific management.
Target audience: Consultants, Students, Professors
Language: Portuguese
From Raw Data to Reliable Maps: Spatial Filtering Strategies Using MapFilter 2.0
Instructors: Ricardo Canal Filho, Luiz Gustavo de Góes Sterle and Eudocio Rafael Otavio da Silva
Start Time: TBA Duration: 3 hours
The workshop will last approximately 3 hours, consisting of 60 minutes of theoretical content and 120 minutes of hands-on practical activities using MapFilter 2.0. The objective of the theoretical session is to integrate fundamental statistical and agronomic concepts to prepare participants to make informed decisions regarding spatial data filtering — an activity often treated as empirical and still difficult to access for the production sector.
The theoretical component will cover:
- Basic statistical concepts applied to data filtering (mean, median, quartiles, coefficient of variation, standard deviation);
- Fundamental concepts of spatial statistics (radius, distance, range, spatial continuity);
- Key decision points throughout the filtering process;
- Practical examples of spatial data filtering.
After the conceptual foundation is established, the hands-on session will be conducted using the open-source software MapFilter 2.0, which features straightforward installation and a user-friendly interface.
Participants may choose to actively engage in the practical session by performing their own data filtering, or attend as observers while instructors and other participants demonstrate filtering procedures using real spatial datasets.
Those who actively participate in the hands-on session will receive guidance from designated teaching assistants. The MapFilter 2.0 installer and sample datasets will be provided for use during the workshop.
Target audience: All conference participants interested in strengthening their critical decision-making skills in large-scale spatial data filtering for precision agriculture applications.
Requirements: Participants are invited to bring their laptop if they wish to actively engage in the hands-on session
Language: English
Generative AI Applied to Precision Agriculture
Instructor: Guilherme Sanches
Start Time: TBA Duration: 3 hours
A practical and straight-to-the-point workshop aimed at agronomists, consultants, researchers, and managers who want to use Generative Artificial Intelligence to transform agricultural data into faster, more technical, and more accurate decisions.
During 3 hours of immersion, participants will learn how to apply generative AI tools in the routine of Precision Agriculture (PA) — from analyzing maps, sampling plans, and productivity spreadsheets to creating agronomic recommendations and intelligent agents to support decision-making.
The content combines essential fundamentals with practical applications, demonstrating how to integrate AI with PA data, accelerate agronomic diagnostics, and build intelligent workflows that increase operational efficiency.
What participants will learn:
- Key concepts of Generative AI applied to agriculture
- Pipeline for using generative AI with PA data
- Use of ChatGPT and other AI tools for agronomic data analysis
- Creation of agronomic prompts and simple AI agents
- Practical cases in Digital and Precision Agriculture
By the end, participants will have a clear understanding of how to use generative AI as a technical ally in agricultural management — going far beyond basic chatbot usage.
Target audience: Students, Researchers, and Professionals
Requirements: Participants, please bring your laptop to the workshop
Language: Portuguese
Optimizing Fertilizer Distribution with Adulanço: Principles, Calibration, and Field Practice
Instructors: Gabriel Villela Bedum, Mateus Silva Gelain and Marcelo Chan Fu Wei
Start Time: TBA Duration: 3 hours
The workshop will last approximately 3 hours, comprising 60 minutes of theoretical content and 120 minutes of practical, hands-on activities using the latest version of the Adulanço software (Adulanço 4.0). The theoretical session aims to bridge basic agronomic and statistical principles with practical decision-making in fertilizer and soil amendment distribution calibration. In Brazil, broadcast fertilizer application predominates in most cropping systems, reinforcing the relevance of this topic. Field calibration of applicators and uniform distribution are essential but often empirical tasks in crop production.
The theoretical component will cover:
- Fundamentals of fertilizer and soil amendment distribution — why uniform application matters and how it affects crop nutrition and input efficiency.
- Design and interpretation of transversal distribution tests in the field, including layout of collection trays, replicates, and environmental factors affecting measurements.
- Key statistical measures for calibration, such as coefficient of variation (CV), mean spread width, and how they guide adjustments in machinery settings.
- Decision points in calibration protocols (e.g. selection of optimal operational width).
After establishing the conceptual basis, participants will engage in a hands-on session using Adulanço 4.0 — a desktop and mobile-capable software designed to analyze real distribution test data with straightforward workflows. Sample field datasets will be provided.
Participants may either actively work through calibration analyses with guidance from instructors and assistants, or participate as observers while instructors demonstrate software usage and interpretation of results. Those engaged in active practice will receive support from designated teaching assistants, as well as Adulanço 4.0 installers and sample datasets.
Participants may either actively work through calibration analyses with guidance from instructors and assistants, or participate as observers while instructors demonstrate software usage and interpretation of results. Those engaged in active practice will receive support from designated teaching assistants, as well as Adulanço 4.0 installers and sample datasets.
Target audience: This workshop is intended for conference participants seeking to enhance their technical understanding and practical skills in calibrating and evaluating fertilizer and soil amendment distribution.
Requirements: Participants are invited to bring their laptop if they wish to actively engage in the hands-on calibration exercises using Adulanço 4.0
Language: English
Requirements: Participants are invited to bring their laptop if they wish to actively engage in the hands-on calibration exercises using Adulanço 4.0
Language: English
Phytosanitary Alert Systems as a Tool for Digital Agriculture
Instructors: Ivan Carlos Maldaner and Jaqueline Sgarbossa
Start Time: TBA Duration: TBA
Phytosanitary alert systems have become important tools in digital agriculture, enabling the integration of meteorological data, field monitoring, and epidemiological models to predict pest and disease risks. This approach improves decision-making precision, reduces input costs, and minimizes environmental impact.
This workshop presents the fundamentals, technologies, and practical applications of phytosanitary alert systems in precision and digital agriculture.
Topics include:
- Digital agriculture and decision-making
- Concepts of phytosanitary alert systems
- Environmental variables and disease epidemiology
- Technologies (weather stations, sensors, drones, satellite images)
- Practical applications
- Future trends (AI, big data, system integration)
Target audience: Agronomy Students, Consultants, Farmers, and Professionals in Digital Agriculture
Language: Portuguese
Language: Portuguese
QGIS Applied to Precision Agriculture: Mapping and Spatial Analysis of Agricultural Areas
Instructor: Victor Rosário de Novais
Start Time: TBA Duration: TBA
This course presents the fundamentals and applications of QGIS in precision agriculture, focusing on mapping and spatial analysis of agricultural areas. Participants will learn how to use GIS tools to organize, visualize, and interpret geographic data for agricultural planning and management.
Topics include geoprocessing basics, data manipulation, thematic mapping, and spatial analysis for crop diagnosis and monitoring.
Target audience: Undergraduate and Graduate Students, Agricultural Technicians, Extension Professionals, and Researchers
Requirements: Laptop with QGIS installed and basic computer knowledge
Language: Portuguese
Requirements: Laptop with QGIS installed and basic computer knowledge
Language: Portuguese
Step-by-Step Precision Fruit Farming
Instructors: Luciano Gebler and Luis Henrique Bassoi
Start Time: TBA Duration: TBA
Guidelines on how to implement a precision fruit farming system in perennial crops, considering abiotic aspects (fertility, water, and climate) and biotic aspects (physiology, human activities, and harvesting), in order to structure the full cycle of precision agriculture.
Target audience: Technicians, Students, and Researchers
Language: English
Training in Using difm.farm in On-Farm Precision Experimentation
Instructors: David Bullock
Start Time: TBA Duration: 3 hours
This very hands-on workshop will teach participants to use all components of the difm.farm platform, which will allow them to run full-field, on-farm precision experiments (OFPEs) on their own fields. Hundreds of crop consultants, farmers, academics and professional agronomists in the U.S., Canada, and South African are now using difm.farm to run agronomic field trials using precision agriculture technology. difm.farm is a public resource developed by the Data-Intensive Farm Management Project, which is a consortium of agricultural researchers from over 30 academic institutions. difm.farm can be used for free by anyone with internet access. Interested parties can go to https://difm.farm to learn more.
What participants will learn how to use the user-friendly difm.farm platform to:
- to design full-field “checkerboard” agronomic trials that can be easily implemented with precision agriculture technology;
- to implement the trials (“put them in the ground”);
- to upload trial data and field characteristics data;
- to process the data;
- to use difm.farm to analyze the data;
- to produce reports on the implications of the data for profitable input application management.
Target audience: Farmers, Crop Consultants, Agricultural Cooperatives, Professional Researchers
Requirements: Participants will need to bring their laptops to the workshop
Language: English, but people with limited English proficiency should be able to follow along
Language: English, but people with limited English proficiency should be able to follow along