Agronomists and soil scientists prepare best practices for farmers to help them make informed decisions about managing their fields and crops. Rintaro Kinoshita and a team of researchers have determined that a tool such as the “Apparent Electrical Conductivity (ECa) Sensor” can provide important information about agricultural fields, reports official website of the American Society of Agronomy.
Kinoshita is an assistant professor at the Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Japan, but conducted this research while at Cornell University, USA.
Research was published in the Agronomy Journal, a publication of the American Society of Agronomy.
Of course, the soil and its characteristics are among the most important factors for farming. Spatial variation in crop yields is highly dependent on three factors: topography, soil, and pests/diseases.
Farmers often rely on soil tests to understand soil properties, but they take time and are expensive. Kinoshita and the team used sensor technology that allows them to collect various crop and soil information without digging up the soil. These sensors can be carried with agricultural equipment such as tractors and provide important information. To calibrate the information, the researchers compared the data from their sensors with the results of analyzes of soil samples.
The study was conducted on the territory of the states of Maryland and Delaware (regions of the Coastal Lowland and the Piedmont Plateau). The team explored 26 corn fields in two contrasting geographical and thematic areas.
The apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) sensor has proven to be the most successful in evaluating soil properties compared to soil samples taken. These sensors were able to predict soil structure, especially at different depths, and available water content. Since water is the only conductive phase, measurements of soil properties that affect water availability can be predicted using ECa. The measurements related to soil moisture and corn yield, which is valuable information for farmers.
The team also tested other technologies, but the results were not as conclusive as the apparent conductivity sensor. The advantage of capturing measurement data with sensors is that it is done fairly quickly, typically taking 1-2 hours for every fifty acres. On the other hand, soil core testing can take weeks or sometimes months, depending on soil properties.
Kinoshita explains that in order to better manage crops, it is important to start paying more attention to the deeper layers of the soil, and the ECa sensor can be very helpful in this regard.
This study was supported by Willard Agri-Service of Frederick, Inc. supported by the Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program.
In addition, Obihiro University is collaborating within a virtual agronomic knowledge exchange program with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Both the Obihiro region in Japan and Wisconsin in the United States grow the same crops: potatoes and soybeans. The program focuses on nutrition systems and soil science.