Season 2019: more questions than answers?

Droneworkers intensively monitored a plot of potatoes in Zeewolde (Flevoland) last year using precision farming technology. However, the extreme season makes it difficult to draw conclusions.

Earlier we showed how precision farming is used to map the soil and emergence for the season Moon† We also saw how we can follow the crop during the season to map the moisture situation Moon† Before we dive into the new season, we look back one more time at the end of the 1 season.

Trial harvesting figures
The potatoes of the Lady Claire variety came out of the ground on Thursday 20 September under beautiful conditions. Weevers Mechanisatie made a potato harvester available for this, with yield measurement. In order to check the measurement, we carried out 9 trial harvestings in the week before harvesting (based on drone images). The map below shows to what extent the test grubbing-ups correspond to the biomass map, just before haulm killing.

The yield varies from 58 tons per hectare (the plot near grass, where the drought was the worst) to more than 80 tons per hectare (the plot with the overlap between irrigation lanes). The outliers range up to a maximum of 82 tons per hectare. The yield sensor gave an average of 94 tons per hectare, which is however strongly influenced by the soil tare in heavy soils. The yield map patterns are affected by both yield and soil type.

Explainable data
Unfortunately, due to extreme drought and some teething problems, we cannot make any statements about the effect of variable planting and fertilization on the yield. For example, the reference strip was irrigated twice, after which this was no longer a good reference. Martijn van Es and his father Marinus love to see what is possible with sensor technology. From attendance counts to moisture maps, everything is easy to explain. Although it is often not yet clear how we should adapt our cultivation measures to this.

We see the effects of drainage ditches from the time of the Rijksdienst. The effect of the different front crops is also visible, while this plot has been cultivated as 2002 since 1. How should we weigh up all these factors in our cultivation measures?

Growth models
At Dronewerkers we are working on combining drone flights with growth models. In this way we can make better statements about what is 'good' and we can provide insight into the relationship between crop growth and yield. The graph below shows the growth pattern of the 9 places where soil samples were taken (yield on the right). It is clear that the pink line (58 tons per hectare) develops the slowest and dies the earliest. The growth line of the gray sample point (68 tons per hectare) shows that a crop that stays green longer does not always give the highest yield.

Combining this data information will give us more insight in the future into the causes of the differences in yield. It also offers practical tools to improve these.

Plug & play
The other purpose was to demonstrate just how far advanced precision farming has come for a grower who has never worked with task maps before. Precision farming is seen as a complex technology, but last year it turned out that, for example, the use of task maps for field sprayers and fertilizer spreaders works without problems. Task cards are made in consultation and sent via email. The grower puts it on a USB stick and then loads it.

Although there are often more questions than answers, we do see a clear development in both technology and slow steps to interpret the data. The amount of data is no longer the problem. In particular, there is more demand for the knowledge and skills, so that they can be used usefully at the company.

Bert Rich

Bert Rijk is co-owner of Aurea Imaging. That company has been flying drones since 2010, some of which are designed and built by itself. According to him, drones offer the solution for flexible deployment and better images.

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