Agricultural field notebook. What is it and how to do it.

The field or farm notebook is a tool that is used to record all actions on the farm, including our irrigation system, as well as information related to the application of agrochemicals and/or other treatments on agricultural farms.

Compliance is mandatory from January 1, 2013, as dictated by the Royal Decree 1311 / 2012, of September 14, in order to comply with the National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Phytosanitary Products (PAN), imposed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Environment of Spain (MAPAMA).

It is important that it is kept up to date and up-to-date, since it can be required for a field control at any time by the competent authority, and in this way it is demonstrated that good environmental and phytosanitary practices are being carried out.

How to make a field notebook

A field or exploitation notebook consists of the following parts:

1. General information, where the farm data is entered, the people involved in the treatment with medical devices, the application teams for these, advisor, group or advisory entity to which the farm belongs.
2. Identification of the plots of the farm.
3. Information on phytosanitary treatments.
4. Record of analysis of phytosanitary products (if it has been carried out).
5. Register of marketed harvest.
6. Fertilization record.
7. Agri-environmental commitments for rural development lines (Murcia Region).
8. Accounting (for integrated production and organic farming in the Region of Murcia).

The exploitation field notebook and the attached documentation will be kept for at least 3 years. It refers to attached documentation, invoices or other documents that prove the acquisition of the agrochemicals used, contracts with companies or individuals who have carried out the treatments on the farm, equipment inspection certificates, proof of waste treatment, etc.

On the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food appears the template of the field notebook required by this organization, while on the page of the CARM (Murcia Region), there are the models to follow for each type of crop according to the Rural Development Program (PDR), approved by the European Commission on July 3, 2015 by Commission Execution Decision.

One way to prepare a more practical and effective exploitation notebook is through the Field Notebook module that appears incorporated into the software. Agronic Web,  an application that can be purchased with the Agrónic programmers from the manufacturer PROGRÉS, which allows the automatic transfer of irrigation and fertilization data to the form established by the MAPA.

On one hand, Agronic Web It allows recording the status of the sensors connected to the programmer, as well as the data from APIs, to view them through graphs and records once the information has been processed. The objective is that the user can determine the type of irrigation that best suits his crop, analyzing the data represented.

The operation of the Field Notebook module that includes Agronic Web It is based on introducing for each farm the activities that are carried out and the people who are in charge of it. At any time the user can generate the field notebook in the format of the ministry to be able to provide it instantly.

Regarding the phytosanitary products used, the system has the official list and those created manually to be able to add them to the field notebook. In addition, it is capable of constantly updating the products registered in the MAP. The user includes the products they use in their product inventory and can also consult their technical sheet, quantify use, costs, etc.

The application also allows registering the fertilizers used, the people involved in the treatment of phytosanitary products, the machinery and the costs. In addition, it classifies the activity by campaigns, where several fertilization calendars can be defined and differs between the types of user (general and sub-user). In the product manual You can find more detailed information about it and its operation.