Precision farming Dr. ir. Sander H. van Delden (DeS) Lecturer HAS den Bosch Soil and fertilisation Soil, Nutrition & Water

What is precision agriculture ? Precision agriculture: ◦ Farm management with the goal of optimizing returns on inputs while preserving resources ◦ Crop science: match farming practices to crop needs Crop science  (e.g. fertilizer inputs) ◦ Environmental protection: reducing environmental risks and footprint of farming Environmental protection  (e.g. limiting leaching of nitrogen) ◦ Economics: more competitiveness, causes efficient (short term) practices Economics  (e.g. improved management of fertilizer usage and other inputs).

Productivity: Amount of product produced per unit resource input e.g. labour productivity system Input of resources Output of products Efficiency: [ Output / Input ] ratio of particular resource, e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus, energy [Product output / Resource input] [Resource output / Resource input] Measures of productivity and efficiency ? 3

Ingredients for precision agriculture Farm management with the goal of optimizing returns on inputs while preserving resources (Crop) science ◦ What are the needs of my crop ? (dose – response) ◦ What are the needs of my soil ? Environmental protection ◦ What are my limitation by mitigation (law) and long term damage to my system ? Economics ◦ What are my investment / costs ? ◦ What is the value of my product ? ◦ What is the return on investment (marginal productivity) ?

What are the needs of my crop ? Research on dose response Soil Water Nutrients Ecology Climate Starting material Crop

Measuring: Does my crop gets what it needs ◦ Lectures Toine Buijs ◦ Jan Ties Malda ◦ Ecology Rob Kerkmeester Does my soil provide what my crop needs? ◦ Meten is weten?

Meten is weten? (measuring  knowing) What is the cause of stains? High fever Long in the sun After a skating Skin disease Anxiety Rage Blush... Picture PPO (2012)

Example: Potato field Cause of stains drought soil structure flooding nematodes N deficiency fertilization Errors diseases....? Picture PPO (2012)

Most sensordata is relative! N-advies Variabel doseren Picture PPO (2012)

Calibration lines Secondary indicator Primary indicator

Example: Potato field Cause of stains drought soil structure flooding nematodes N deficiency fertilization Errors diseases....?

Law of the Minimum Justus von Liebig “Yield is proportional to the amount of the most limiting nutrient” “Yield is proportional to the most limiting growth factor”

Measuring element in the soil MetaphorBasementKitchenTablePlate MethodK-totalK-CECK-PAEK-soil solution K per ha.1000 kg500 kg180 kg 50 kg Total soil reserve (including fixed portion) Soil reserve Plant available reserve Readily available for uptake

pH and nutrient uptake

Organic matter and Moisture

Geonics EM38 unit Hossian 2008

The Mole The Soil Company

Sensing system The Mole consists of: CsI crystal Photomultiplier Multi-Channel Analyser (MCA) USB connection to laptop Laptop GPS Dedicated data log software Measuring gamma

Alfa: He, shielded by paper Beta: 1 elektron, shielded by aluminum Gamma: EM radiaton, shielded by 4 m lead Gamma-ray

Gamma-ray Half life times 238 U4.46*10 9 yr 232 Th1.39*10 10 yr 40 K1.3*10 9 yr 137 Cs30 yr

Correlation and calibration

Measuring gamma Factors influencing gamma measurements: (irrespective of sensing system) Gamma influential factors Temperature of crystal Measurement height

Which properties can be mapped? Soil texture; clay, loam, grain size Nutrients; Soil organic matter, Mg, pH, Fe, K Depends on the size and scale of calibration dataset From gamma to soil properties

Regression analysis

From gamma to soil properties

Law of the Minimum Justus von Liebig “Yield is proportional to the amount of the most limiting nutrient” “Yield is proportional to the most limiting growth factor” Ask yourself: Do I get paid for a more homogeneous product ? What is the potential gain of precision farming and is this worth the investment……in time and equipment ?