Abstract

Spatial variations in yield occur in all agricultural fields to some degree. Knowledge of the reasons for these variations, especially temporally stable yield patterns, is needed in order to improve productivity by changing production methods or inputs. This information must be provided in a simple, cost-effective way. This study investigated whether field-scale measurements of penetration resistance (PR) could identify temporally stable yield patterns without complementary measurements of other properties. The PR measurements were also compared with field-scale apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) measurements and correlations between yield and PR and yield and ECa were investigated. Measurements with a newly constructed horizontal penetrometer and a non-invasive proximal electromagnetic induction sensor were carried out in three fields in east-central Sweden. The measurements were made once in each field, apart from one field where PR was measured twice in one season. The sensor measurements were compared with crop yield measured over the course of several years. The horizontal penetrometer was able to identify low-yielding areas in one field. However, single measurements of PR or ECa were insufficient to consistently identify yield variations. Parts of the fields showed more consistent patterns, with stronger correlations between PR, ECa and yield. PR and ECa data were better at explaining yield variations in drier years, but showed diverging patterns in different fields and neither showed a much stronger correlation to yield than the other. In future studies, simultaneous measurement of soil water content is recommended and also PR measurements at a water content drier than field capacity.

Keywords

Penetration resistance; electrical conductivity; spatial variation; yield; soil physical properties; temporally stable patterns

Published in

Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B - Soil and Plant Science
2018, Volume: 68, number: 8, pages: 690-700
Publisher: TAYLOR & FRANCIS AS

SLU Authors

• Bölenius, Elisabeth

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Wetterlind, Johanna

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Keller, Thomas

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Agroscope

UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09064710.2018.1464201

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/96420