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Exploring the spatial relations between cereal yield and soil chemical properties and the implications for sampling
Author(s) -
Frogbrook Z.L.,
Oliver M.A.,
Salahi M.,
Ellis R.H.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
soil use and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.709
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1475-2743
pISSN - 0266-0032
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-2743.2002.tb00043.x
Subject(s) - geostatistics , precision agriculture , spatial variability , yield (engineering) , sampling (signal processing) , soil science , environmental science , agriculture , crop yield , variogram , soil water , range (aeronautics) , mathematics , agronomy , agricultural engineering , statistics , kriging , ecology , computer science , materials science , filter (signal processing) , metallurgy , computer vision , biology , engineering , composite material
. In general, agricultural management has focused on differences between fields or on the gross differences within them. Recent developments in agricultural technology, yield mapping, Global Positioning Systems and variable rate applications, have made it possible to consider managing the considerable variation in soil and other properties within fields. This system is known as precision agriculture. More precise management of fields depends on a better understanding of the factors that affect crop input decisions. This paper examines the spatial variation in crop yield, soil nutrient status and soil pH within two agricultural fields using geostatistics. The observed properties vary considerably within each field. The relation between yield and the measured soil properties appears to be weak in general. However, the range of spatial correlation for yield, shown by the variogram, is similar to that of the soil chemical properties. In addition the latter changed little over two years. This suggests that information on the scale of variation of soil chemical properties can be derived from yield maps, which can also be used as a guide to a suitable sampling interval for soil properties.