Estimating vegetation index for outdoor freerange pig production

Abstract

Due to the taste of Korean consumers, who excessively prefer pork belly and shoulder cuts, there are "Non-preferred" parts among Korean consumers. The solution must be found in market diversity. If value-added products presented the possibility of entering the market, it would be possible to respond to various crises preemptively. Currently, grazing pigs is not legally allowed in Korea. In the United States, outdoor pig production is steadily increasing thanks to the niche market strategy for small farmers, consumer antipathy to factory farm products, and the trend of eco-friendly and animal welfare, and research on this is continuing. One of the advantages of outdoor pig production is that farms can be run with small capital, and one of the disadvantages is that cover crops can be devastated due to the burrowing nature of pigs, resulting in underground water being overnourished if management is neglected. Recent scientific advances have made it possible to take images from unmanned aerial vehicles. Utilizing this technology to ascertain the situation of grazing land in outdoor pig production will greatly help farmers maintain pastures at the recommended rate without leaving pastures until they are irreparable. The purpose of this study was to develop an algorithm that quantitatively estimates the vegetation index in outdoor pig production using a small drone and an RGB image sensor.