Researchers propose integrating sensors into farm machinery to collect vital cotton field data, aiming to improve harvest management and profitability.
Remote sensing offers cotton farmers and crop consultants a valuable tool to assess crop maturity and schedule harvest-aid applications.
But remote sensing relying on drones has limitations, says Juan Landivar, professor and director of the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center in Corpus Christi.
“We can’t cover 4 million acres of Texas cotton with drones,” he says. “We need to figure out ways to get data from every cotton field in Texas, so we can develop those maps. We have a couple of projects that hold promise.”
Landivar says new cars come with sensors that provide data, in addition to programs that prevent drivers from hitting the car in front of them.
“You don’t turn them on; you crank the car and sensors activate,” he says. “We would like to have sensors like that on tractors and sprayers, so every time they go through the field, they collect the data we need to develop a model. If a farmer has a sprayer that applies 200,000 to 300,000 miles of spray a year, it could include sensors capable of measuring canopy cover, plant height and vegetative indexes automatically and seamlessly.”
Creating data points
He says farmers can use that data to develop models for every one of their fields. Crossing 10 fields maybe six times during the season will create six data points to use to develop a model for every field.
Landivar says equipment companies are taking note of these concepts. Researchers at the center in Corpus Christi and the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering have been supporting and are installing it on sprayers.
“One of their customers told me he had a machine that can evaluate canopy cover, plant height, excessive greenness and NDVI [Normalized Difference Vegetation Index].
“The idea came from us. They were using it to look for weeds, but once they were through spraying a field, they didn’t save the data. Now they are.
“I suspect in the future sprayers will come equipped with sensors to collect data every time they cross the fields. That’s the data we will need to spread technology to more cotton fields. Maybe we take the six to eight points during the season and complement it with satellite data, which is getting better and better all the time.”
Landivar says successful research into data collection will demand that it is economically viable for producers.
“We are working with a group of economists; we show them what we are doing, and they try to figure out if it will make money for growers. If the answer is no, that application is dead.”
He says a better model might be available, and ongoing studies will be looking for better options. “Harvest management is an important decision because it makes a difference for the bottom line of the growers,” Landivar says.
Source: https://www.farmprogress.com/