Abstract
Proximal sensing represents a growing avenue for precision fertilization and crop growth monitoring. In the last decade, precision agriculture technology has become affordable in many countries; Global Positioning Systems for automatic guidance instruments and proximal sensors can be used to guide the distribution of nutrients such as nitrogen (N) fertilization using real-time applications. A two-year field experiment (2017–2018) was carried out to quantify maize yield in response to variable rate (VR) N distribution, which was determined with a proximal vigour sensor, as an alternative to a fixed rate (FR) in a cereal-livestock farm located in the Po valley (northern Italy). The amount of N distributed for the FR (140 kg N ha−1) was calculated according to the crop requirement and the regional regulation: ±30% of the FR rate was applied in the VR treatment according to the Vigour S-index calculated on-the-go from the CropSpec sensor. The two treatments of N fertilization did not result in a significant difference in yield in both years. The findings suggest that the application of VR is more economically profitable than the FR application rate, especially under the hypothesis of VR application at a farm scale. The outcome of the experiment suggests that VR is a viable and profitable technique that can be easily applied at the farm level by adopting proximal sensors to detect the actual crop N requirement prior to stem elongation. Besides the economic benefits, the VR approach can be regarded as a sustainable practice that meets the current European Common Agricultural Policy.
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Claims 4
Claim · model-written summary
Variable-rate and fixed-rate nitrogen fertilization produced no significant difference in maize yield in either year.
Zea maysNot reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Maize”
e0“The two treatments of N fertilization did not result in a significant difference in yield in both years.”
Claim · model-written summary
Variable-rate nitrogen application was judged more economically profitable than the fixed rate, particularly at farm scale.
- Treatment
- application of VRe0
- Outcome
- economically profitablee0
- Direction
- moree0
- Qualifier
- especially under the hypothesis of VR application at a farm scalee0
- Comparator
- FR application ratee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The findings suggest that the application of VR is more economically profitable than the FR application rate, especially under the hypothesis of VR application at a farm scale.”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors judged variable-rate fertilization a viable and profitable farm-level technique using proximal sensors before stem elongation.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“VR is a viable and profitable technique that can be easily applied at the farm level by adopting proximal sensors to detect the actual crop N requirement prior to stem elongation.”
t0“Maize”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors considered variable-rate nitrogen application a sustainable practice meeting the current European Common Agricultural Policy.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the VR approach can be regarded as a sustainable practice that meets the current European Common Agricultural Policy.”
t0“Maize”
The same questions in other papers
fertilization · yield · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
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