The learning objectives of teaching Digital Applications in foothill arboriculture are to provide the student with the ability to use digital tools and technologies for monitoring analysis and management of fruit tree systems and for the application of precision agronomic techniques in the field with regard to fruit trees from the foothill environment.
The course also intends to provide students with the ability to identify the most appropriate level of digitization applicable to the different types of orchard farms, together with an in-depth exploration of the different plant shapes used in fruit tree systems, with the aim of calibrating the applications of fruit farming 4.0 to the type of planting and plant shapes used in the orchard. The objectives described above are also pursued through the exploration of appropriate case studies.

Knowledge and understanding skills
The teaching aims to develop students' knowledge and understanding skills, such as:
• knowing and understanding what technologies are useful in monitoring tree systems for precision agronomic applications such as remote sensing and digital soil mapping to quantitatively estimate variables of agronomic interest in vegetation and soil;
• know and understand the digital techniques and technologies that can be used to analyze the spatial and temporal variability of the orchard;
• to know and understand the development and application of precision agronomic techniques and decision support systems for plant fruit systems.

Applied knowledge and understanding
The teaching will enable the application of knowledge and understanding, allowing the student to:
• know and use the main multispectral satellite systems suitable for precision agriculture through the use of cloud-based platforms for analyzing the temporal and spatial variability of fruit-growing plots;
• know and use techniques for estimating vegetation and soil biophysical variables from satellite data and through the use of proximal sensing for monitoring fruit crops;
• to know the techniques and technologies available for digital applications in the management of cultivation operations in the orchard, also exploring the opportunities for using drones and agribots for the automatic execution of cultivation operations.

Autonomy of judgement
Teaching will allow the development of autonomy of judgement at various levels, such as:
• hypothesize which soil and climate properties influence the spatial and temporal variability of fruit tree crops;
• propose the most suitable precision management agro-techniques for efficient and sustainable management of fruit tree crops.

Communication skills
Participation in the lectures and use of the teaching materials made available will facilitate the development and application of communication skills, such as:
• provide an exhaustive range of practical examples of the application of precision agronomic techniques to fruit tree crops;
• using an appropriate and up-to-date technical agronomic vocabulary in line with fruit growing 4.0.

Learning skills
Participating in lessons and making independent use of the material made available will facilitate the consolidation of one's learning skills, such as:
• activate a programme of continuous updating of one's knowledge;
• autonomously identify ways of acquiring information by consulting bibliographic databases at various levels (peer-reviewed journals, popular journals, conference proceedings, websites, etc.);
• identify and use the most useful sources of information for personal updating.