Evaluating management zone maps for variable rate fungicide application and selective harvest

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorWhetton, Rebecca L.
dc.contributor.authorWaine, Toby W.
dc.contributor.authorMouazen, Abdul M.
dc.date.accessioned2018-08-30T15:32:21Z
dc.date.available2018-08-30T15:32:21Z
dc.date.issued2018-08-23
dc.description.abstractCurrently the majority of crop protection approaches are based on homogeneous rate fungicide application (HRFA) over the entire field area. With the increasing pressures on fungicide applications, associated with increased environmental impact and cost, an alternative approach based on variable rate fungicide application (VRFA) and selective harvest (SH) is needed. This study was undertaken to evaluate the economic viability of adopting VRSA and SH in winter wheat and the environmental benefit in terms of chemical reduction is also discussed. High resolution data of crop canopy properties, yellow rust, fusarium head blight (FHB), soil properties and yield were subjected to k-means cluster analysis to develop management zone (MZ) maps for one field in Bedfordshire, UK. Virtual cost-benefit analysis for VRFA was performed on three fungicide application timings, namely, T1 and T2 focused on yellow rust, and T3 focused on FHB. Cost-benefit analysis was also applied to SH, which assumed different selling prices between healthy and grain downgraded due to mycotoxin infection. Results showed that in this study VRFA allowed for fungicide reductions of 22.24% at T1 and T2 and 25.93% at T3 when compared to HRFA. SH reduced the risk of market rejection due to low quality and high mycotoxin content. Gross profit of combining SH and VRFA was £83.35 per hectare per year, divided into SH £48.04 ha−1, and VRFA £8.8 ha−1 for T1 and T2 and £17.7 ha−1 for T3. Total profit when considering soil and crop scanning costs would be £66.85 ha−1 per year, which is roughly equivalent to €80 or $90 ha−1 per year. This study was restricted to a single field but demonstrates the potential of fungicide reductions and economic viability of this MZ concept.en_UK
dc.identifier.citationRebecca L. Whetton, Toby W. Waine and Abdul M. Mouazen.Evaluating management zone maps for variable rate fungicide application and selective harvest. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Volume 153, Issue October, 2018, pp. 202-212en_UK
dc.identifier.issn0168-1699
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2018.08.004
dc.identifier.urihttp://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/13435
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherElsevieren_UK
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/*
dc.subjectCereal crop diseaseen_UK
dc.subjectManagement zonesen_UK
dc.subjectCost-benefit analysisen_UK
dc.subjectSelective harvesten_UK
dc.subjectVariable rate fungicide applicationen_UK
dc.titleEvaluating management zone maps for variable rate fungicide application and selective harvesten_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Evaluating_management_zone_maps-2018.pdf
Size:
1.32 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.63 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Staff publications (SWEE)