Mapping within-field soil variability for precision agriculture using electromagnetic induction

peer reviewedAmong the crops production factors, the soil is obviously one of the most important. Therefore, within the context of Precision Agriculture, the spatial variability knowledge of its physical and chemical properties is essential as a decision support information for cultural operations modulation. The purpose of this study is to assess the capability of electromagnetic induction sensing of apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) for the characterisation of withinfield variability of soil physical and/or chemical properties in the particular soil conditions encountered in our experimental area, namely non-saline deep silty soils. ECa maps were produced on a 7ha field in April 2001, September 2001 and April 2002. Concurrently, an intensive soil survey (112 points) was carried out in February 2001 in order to determine a series of physical, textural and chemical soil parameters. ECa accurately described clay content, and exchangeable K and Ca cations concentrations.Etude de la variabilité spatiale des champs cultivé

2. Implantation des cultures

Expérimentations, résultats, perspectives, recommandations pratiques (date de semis, préparation du sol, profondeur de semis, densité de semis, protection des semis

Analysis of soil and crop properties for precision agriculture for winter wheat

In a precision farming research project financed by the Belgian Ministry of Small Trade and Agriculture, the methods of precision agriculture are tested on grain fields with a view of implementation of precision agriculture methods in Belgian field agriculture. The project encompasses methods for automatic information gathering on soil and crop and analysis of this data for management of within-field variability. Automatic information capturing is combined with traditional data sources of soil sample analysis and crop observations. The measurements and part of the results on one particular field in Sauvenière are presented here. Five nitrogen management strategies were compared, but the resulting differences in nitrogen dose were small and did not lead to significantly different yield results. The yield results were correlated to topography-related variations in soil texture and chemical components and to crop reflectance measurements in May.Agriculture de précisio

Analysis of soil variability measured with a soil strength sensor

In the context of precision agriculture, the knowledge of soil strength variability at the field scale may be useful for improving site-specific tillage. Moreover, rapid and accurate sensing methods for soil physical properties determination would favourably replace labour intensive, time-consuming and expensive soil sampling and analysis. This study aims at validating conclusions of a previous study which was conducted to develop a soil strength in field conditions. The coupled acquisition of the sensor's signals and the corresponding DGPS positions allowed establishment of maps for the three measured outputs, namely the horizontal force (Fx), the vertical force (FZ) and the moment (My). In order to study the relationships between measured forces and soil physical parameters, a series of soil properties were measured on soil cores collected in 10 reference plots. Significant correlations were found between Fx and the average resistance to cone penetration at 25 cm depth and between Fx and the average soil moisture at 30 cm depth. The sensing method proved its capability to characterize within-field soil variability.Precision agricultur