Abstract
Agricultural fields have been always considered as uniform entities and managed accordingly. However, uniform agronomic management in fields where spatial variability is present, is economically and environmentally inefficient. The study was carried out on a 18 ha field located in Melfi (PZ, Basilicata), Southern Italy during six years of alternate cultivation of wheat and forage. Spatial maps of grain yield, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and topography were collected. The spatial maps were used to define spatial and temporal yield variability and to identify two stable zones within the field, “low yield stable” (LS) and “high yield stable” (HS). Short fallow rainfall was correlated with grain yield of HS. Both zones were negatively correlated to vegetative growing season (Dec-Gen-Feb cumulative rainfall). Wheat yield production in Mediterranean environment is highly affected by rainfall and amount of soil water stored into the soil before and during the growing season. The objectives of this study were to identify spatio-temporal stable areas throughout the field, understanding the influence of rainfall on wheat yield. Starting from this map, prescription maps are produced to experiment the distribution of variable-dose nitrogenated fertilizers with the Kverneland GEOSPAT Exacta TL Fertilizer spreader. This operation in the case of cereal crops, today still represents a highly impacting intervention from the economic and environmental point of view.
Published Version
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