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Map-based site-specific seeding of consumption potato production using high-resolution soil and crop data fusion

Journal Contribution - Journal Article

Maximizing potato productivity and economic return calls for a proper seeding technology that is capable to manage in-field soil variability by optimizing the input seed densities. Current study evaluates the agronomic and economic potential of site-specific seeding (SSS) of consumable potato in comparison with uniform rate seeding (URS) approach. Two treatments of map-based SSS were tested in two study sites i.e., Dal (5.5 ha) and Bottelare (5.4 ha) in Belgium. In the first treatment, soil apparent electrical conductivity measured with an electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensor (EMI-SSS) was used as the management zone proxy data, and in the second treatment, soil fertility attributes measured with an on-line visible and near-infrared spectroscopy were fused with Sentinel-2 retrieved normalized difference vegetation index (VNIRS-SSS). In-row seed-to-seed distances were varied by 29, 31, 36, 40, 43 cm for Dal, and 25, 31, 36, 43, 47 cm for Bottelare following the prescription rule of sowing more seeds to the more fertile zones and vice-versa, whereas 36 cm seeding interval was applied for the control URS treatment. Yield analysis indicated that the SSS improved tuber yields, saved seed costs, and accordingly increased net economic return compared to the URS. The highest yield was harvested in Dal field for VNIRS-SSS (59.13 t/ha), followed by EMI-SSS (58.39 t/ha) and URS (56.16 t/ha). The VNIRS-SSS also produced higher yield (16.75 t/ha) at Bottelare site than EMI-SSS (16.49 t/ha) and URS (13.70 t/ha). The net profit of the SSS treatments was 5.35 to 56.0% higher than that of the URS treatment. The VNIRS-SSS treatment produced the highest net return (380.27 €/ha) for Dal, while EMI-SSS resulted in the highest net return (447.67 €/ha) for Bottelare. Therefore, regardless of the type of data/sensor used, map-based SSS is recommended for improving the production of consumption potato and increasing net economic margin.
Journal: COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONICS IN AGRICULTURE
ISSN: 1872-7107
Volume: 178
Publication year:2020
Accessibility:Closed