101 ways to make precision agriculture work in qld vegetables sarah limpus, ian layden daaf
TRANSCRIPT
101 ways to make PA work in Qld Vegetables
Sarah Limpus, Ian Layden & Julie O’Halloran
Department of Agriculture & Fisheries Queensland
The Project “Adoption of variable rate technology in
Queensland’s intensive vegetable productions systems”
Commercial farm demonstration sites across key Queensland vegetable producing regions - 17 businesses Commercially available technologies Installation & optimisation Strategic management strategies Capacity building
Kalbar Carrots Shared harvester fitted with load-based yield monitor Proximal biomass imagery & EM soil survey VR spreader Data management software
Kalbar Carrots – Identify Variability
Biomass - NDVI Carrot Yield EM Soil Survey
Kalbar Carrots - Ground truthing variability
11
2
2
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
N P K
NU
TRIE
NT
AN
ALY
SIS
(MG
/KG
)
Comparison of soil nutrient analysis of zone 1 & 2
Growthzone 1
Growthzone 2
66%
50%
30%
NDVI (Greenseeker)
Kalbar Carrots – Identify Variability
(31%)(62%)(7%)
+50%
Carrot Yield – Raw data Carrot Yield – Cleaned & Categorised
Zone 1
Zone 2
Kalbar Carrots – Treat Variability
Local Knowledge VRT Spreader
Kalbar Carrots – Data Mining
Yield
Thousands of individual, geo-referenced data points Multiple spatial layers
96%
EM Soil Survey 89%
NDV
IYI
ELD
NDVI (Greenseeker)
How much of the field is underperforming? By how much?
Is there value in increasing yield in poorer performing areas?
Economic analyses of variability vs management intervention
Farming values
Yield category
Area % area
0-40 t/ha 2.8 31
40-60 t/ha 5.6 62
60-100 t/ha 0.6 6
high $/ha low $/ha
Kalbar Carrots - Decision making Profit-Loss Map
Atherton Potatoes 250 ha fresh & processing
potato Mechanical harvester fitted
with load-based yield monitor
Satellite NDVI – cloud cover Retrofit planting box for VRT
fertiliser
Atherton Potatoes – Identify VariabilityPotato yield map
30% higher yielding variety
53%NDVI Sat Image - 0.8m resolution
Irrigated at capture
Pasture 4 yrs ago
Atherton Potatoes - Identify Variability
pH 4.5
pH 5.9
pH grid sampling
Conventional lime cost 60 t @ $9,600VRT lime cost 35 t @ $5,600 strategic spread
40% lime savings
Atherton Potatoes – Treat Variability
Lime prescription to target pH 5.5
0 t/ha
1.5 t/ha
2.5 t/ha
4.5 t/ha
Atherton Potatoes – Treat Variability EM mapping and & moisture probes (telemetry)
Low water holding capacity soils in the East
VRT irrigation, automatically manual
30% higher yielding variety
Atherton Potatoes – Data Mining
Zone Average (t/ha) % Area1 79.30 4.98%2 51.30 15.99%3 38.44 50.04%4 25.58 27.09%5 14.58 1.89%
Average/total 38.59 100%
Bowen Capsicums
BMS Soil Information Systems (EM mapping) 32 ha mapped/sampled
Bowen Capsicums - Identify Variability
53% with ESP >6%
As high as 20% at 0.5m
Yield consequences? Data doesn’t exist
Up to 60% based on calculations derived from Ayars & Westcott, 1994
Not seen here = good water/nutrition management
Soil tests & local erosion show considerable soil-structural effects
ESP %
Qld Globe Data > Bore station
Don River Delta
Keep an eye on water levels Leach in dry years only
Gypsum application 0-5 t/ha banded (traditional 1t/ha over 32 ha)
VRT increases GM by $9/ha OR 0.002% of the GM
Bowen Capsicums - Treat Variability
YES!
0 t/ha 1.75 t/ha 3.25 t/ha 5 t/ha
So why is PA in veg important? While not always straightforward, PA does help identify, quantify & treat variability Crop uniformity is critical – contract & mechanical harvesting, hand harvesting (reducing
multiple harvests) Current agronomy is very good – has been revised due to missing some important within block
factors affecting profitability (pests, irrigation, soil) More efficient & strategic utilisation of resources (inputs, labour) & land (environmental
advantages) Government investment has an important role in kick-starting/navigating adoption of new
technologies, particularly where market failure exists
Future Improved grower/agronomist readiness for emerging data challenges (storage, analysis, privacy,
mobile applications, robotics, automation) Traceability – becoming more important in the fresh sector (agronomic/chemical data on
demand, exact locations/harvest days, pack out, safety, quality ………)
Challenges Yield monitors are critical to adoption & understanding the cost
of variability – require significant optimisation & calibration to determine “marketable” yield
Data management, capacity building in utilising software, ‘cloud’ & mobile mapping applications e.g. Google Earth, Dropbox
Technology optimisation – not just plug & play technologies, compatibilities
Capacity building for ground truthing activities e.g. strategic/zonal sampling
Multiple layers & data mining to get the most out of the investment
This work was supported by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), Department of Environment and Heritage Protection and the Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme.This work was made possible by the co-operation of producers and commercial service providers.
Acknowledgements
Kengoon Farming ● Windhum Farms ● NorthQual ● Veejays ● Rieck Farming ● DJM Farming ●Ben Poggioli ● AustChilli ● Kalfresh ● Windolf Farms ● Rugby Farms ● Phantom Farms
Precision Agriculture ● Precision Ag Solutions ● Vanderfields ● BGA Agri Services ● GT Ag Services ● SST Software ● Bowen Crop Monitoring ● Tableland Fert ● Airborn Insight ●
BMS Laser Sat
ActivitiesAssess spatial variability
Crop Sensing•Satellite images•Proximal NDVI sensors
EMI Soil Mapping•Soil moisture•Clay content•Salt
Gridded Soil Sampling
Yield Monitoring•Retrofit existing harvesters•3 x potato•1 x sweet potato•1 x carrot (750+ ha)
Ground-truthing activities
Strategic crop monitoring
Pest/disease identification & mapping
Irrigation efficacy/moisture monitoring
EMI Soil Mapping
Strategic/zonal soil sampling
Management interventions
Irrigation redesign/VR
Variable rate applications•Lime•Fertiliser•Gypsum•Compost
Strategic management & software