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Canopy reflectance, thermal stress, and apparent soil electrical conductivity as predictors of within-field variability in grain yield and grain protein of malting barley

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Abstract

Three consecutive crops of malting barley grown during 2002–2004 on clay-loam on a Swedish farm (59°74’ N, 17°00’ E) were monitored for canopy reflectance at growth stages GS32 (second node detectable) and GS69 (anthesis complete), and the crops were sampled for above ground dry matter and nitrogen content. GPS-positioned unfertilised plots were established and used for soil sampling. At harvest, plots of 0.25 m2 were cut in both fertilised and unfertilised plots, and 24 m2 areas were also harvested from fertilised barley. The correlations between nine different vegetation indices (VIs) from each growth stage and yield and grain protein were tested. All indices were significantly correlated (at 5% level) with grain yield (GY), and protein when sampled at GS69 but only four when sampled at GS32. Three variables (the best-correlated vegetation index sampled at GS32; an index for accumulated elevated daily maximum temperatures for the grain filling period, and normalised apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) of the soil) were sufficient input in the final regressions. Using these three variables, it was possible to make either one multivariate (PLS) regression model or two linear multiple regression models for grain yield (GY) and grain protein, with correlation coefficients of 0.90 and 0.73 for yield and protein, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Kristina Eek and Anders Anderson Yara Sweden, and the Yara N-Sensor team in Hanninghof Germany, for their help and support in extracting data from obscure log files. Thanks to Professor Robert Hay, who has helped us put this material into a bigger context and also helped a lot with our use of English.

This project has been possible due to economic support from Stiftelsen Svensk Växtnäringsforskning, Lantmännen and Precisionsodling Sverige (POS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7043, SE-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Carl-Göran Pettersson & Henrik Eckersten

  2. Department of Soil Science, Division of Precision Agriculture, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 234, SE-532 23, Skara, Sweden

    Mats Söderström

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  1. Carl-Göran Pettersson
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  2. Mats Söderström
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Correspondence to Carl-Göran Pettersson.

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Pettersson, CG., Söderström, M. & Eckersten, H. Canopy reflectance, thermal stress, and apparent soil electrical conductivity as predictors of within-field variability in grain yield and grain protein of malting barley. Precision Agric 7, 343–359 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-006-9019-4

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