A GIS-BASED SPATIAL ANALYSIS FOR AGRICULTURAL PRUNING WASTE MANAGEMENT IN THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY PERSPECTIVE

Agricultural activities produce huge amounts of agro-residues usable as resources in the optic of the circular economy. Among these, those from pruning olive groves, vineyards and fruit plantations can be particularly relevant. Biomass residues from agricultural pruning represent a typical case of agro-residues yearly produced and hardly ever used. Mismanagement practices are very common and cause serious human and environmental health issues. It is necessary to overcome technical and logistic problems that farmers experience by developing a proper management system. This study aims to contribute to the design of an effective collection system for agricultural pruning biomass. Data from earth observations are precious to achieve this objective. In this study, the GIS tools were used to work on earth observation products and perform a territorial analysis. The attention was focused on an area particularly suited to agriculture in the Apulia Region (Italy). Land use maps derived from orthophotos were used to identify areas of pruning waste production. By defining and applying pruning indices for each crop, pruning residues were quantified and localized. Based on this, the suitable position of the collection centres was defined. The obtained maps can be easily used and continuously updated with remote sensing imagery. The study highlights the power of the methodology implying land use maps based on orthophotos and in turn on earth observations and GIS tools for this purpose. The results represent a first step towards the improvement of the agro-residues management system and can help policymakers and stakeholders to promote more sustainable actions.