GPS collars will be used to track the animals
Shepherds in the Algarve will be able to track their flocks with the help of geolocalisation technology (GPS) collars as part of a pilot project launched in Silves on Tuesday.
“We chose two animals per herd and we’re going to put the collars on them which will make it easier to control the flocks,” the project’s coordinator, João Cassinello, told reporters at a livestock farm north of Algoz, in the municipality of Silves.
The technician, who works for the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR), explained that the use and dissemination of this technology, based on georeferenced information systems (GIS), is one of the components of one of the action lines of Revitalgarve, a project that aims to contribute to the revitalisation of the region’s rural areas.
The pilot project will be applied to a total of five flocks (four sheep flocks and one goat flock) with the fitting of two electronic collars per flock, to track and monitor the animals’ behaviour.
“Only with time will we see if this works and if it’s really going to help us,” said one of the flock owners, after watching the collars being placed on two animals from her flock of 200 sheep.
Anabela Coelho, who will now be able to check the location of her flock at any time using her mobile phone, said that the most obvious use she sees will be “to know where the animals are that have escaped after being attacked by dogs“.
According to the Revitalgarve technicians, the introduction of this technology will make it easier for shepherds to know the exact location of their herd and make it possible to “obtain other production parameters”.
“It will also promote better pasture and land management, especially in keeping areas cleaner and more resilient to rural fires,” the technicians told journalists.
Shepherd Rogério Ponte, who also attended the collar-fitting ceremony, confessed that he was still unaware of the possible benefits of the technology that was about to be introduced: “No-one has yet explained to me what all this is for,” he complained.
This afternoon, more electronic collars were due to be placed at a fruit farm in Conceição de Tavira, also in the Algarve, which uses a flock of sheep to control weeds.
“This pilot project is a demonstration, so that other producers will also adopt this new technology in the future,” said Pedro Valadas Monteiro, vice-president of the Algarve CCDR, responsible for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries.
Revitalgarve is a project funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), based on a network of 12 public and private partners, which aims to create a model for organising the Algarve’s food system, based on a network of local producers and local consumption of products.
Source: LUSA
