Abstract
The identification of homogeneous management zones (MZs) within a field is a basis for site-specific management (SSM). We assessed the method of defining MZs based on the spatio-temporal homogeneity of six soil properties and above-ground biomass data from paddy rice, winter wheat and soybean over 3 years on a farm with 124 contiguous small paddy fields. The soil data were recorded at 372 soil sampling sites on a rectangular grid over the farm. A non-hierarchical cluster analysis was applied to the soil data and the algorithm grouped the sites into three clusters with similar soil properties. These clusters represent soil fertility and soil drainage. The three clusters were not randomly distributed across the fields, but formed contiguous areas associated with landscape position. This was due to the spatial variation of the soil in the study area. We delineated five MZs based on the spatial structure of the soil heterogeneity of the study area. The validity of the MZs was evaluated using the biomass data from paddy rice, winter wheat and soybean in each MZ; this depended mainly on soil fertility when conditions were dry. When the growing season precipitation was greater than the 10-year average, the biomass of winter wheat and soybean depended on soil drainage. This suggested that the delineation of MZs for site-specific management in fields under a paddy-upland crop rotation system should be based on several soil properties. The biomass data from the three crops over 3 years was not effective for delimiting MZs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Basso, B., Bertocco, M., Sartori, L., & Martin, E. C. (2007). Analyzing the effect of climate variability on spatial pattern of yield in a maize-wheat-soybean rotation. European Journal of Agronomy, 26, 82–91.
Blackmore, S. (2000). The interpretation of trends from multiple yield maps. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 26, 37–51.
Brock, A., Brouder, M., Blumhoff, G., & Hofmann, B. S. (2005). Defining yield-based management zones for corn–soybean rotation. Agronomy Journal, 97, 1115–1128.
Cambardella, C. A., Moorman, T. B., Novak, J. M., Parkin, T. B., Karlen, D. L., Turco, R. F., Dobermann, A., & White, P. F. (1999). Strategies for nutrient management in irrigated and rainfed lowland rice systems. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 53, 1–18.
Dobermann, A., & Casmann, K. G. (2002). Plant nutrient management for enhanced productivity in intensive grain production systems of the United States and Asia. Plant and Soil, 247, 153–175.
Dobermann, A., & White, P. F. (1999). Strategies for nutrient management in irrigated and rainfed lowland rice systems. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 53, 1–18.
Dobermann, A., Witt, C., Dawe, D., Abdulrachman, S., Gines, H. C., Nagarajan, R., Satawathananont, S., Son, T. T., Tan, P. S., Wang, R. H., Chien, N. V., Thoa, V. T. K., Phung, C. V., Stalin, P., Muthukrishnan, P., Ravi, V., Babu, M., Chatuporn, S., Sookthongsa, J., Sun, Q., Fu, R., Simbahan, G. C., & Adviento, M. A. A. (2002). Site-specific nutrient management for intensive rice cropping systems in Asia. Field Crops Research, 74, 37–66.
Doerge, T. A., & Gardner, D. L. (1999). On-farm testing using the adjacent strip comparison method. In P. C. Robert, R. H. Rust, & W. E. Larson (Eds.), Precision agriculture: Proceedings of the 4th international conference. St. Paul, MN, 19–22 July 1998 (pp. 603–609). Madison, WI: ASA, CSSA, and SSSA.
Duffera, M., White, J. G., & Weisz, R. (2007). Spatial variability of Southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain soil physical properties: Implications for site-specific management. Geoderma, 137, 327–339.
Fleming, K. L., Westfall, D. G., Wiens, D. W., & Brodahl, M. C. (2000). Evaluating farmer defined management zone maps for variable rate fertilizer application. Precision Agriculture, 2, 201–215.
Florin, M. J., McBratney, A. B., & Whelan, B. M. (2005). Extending site-specific crop management from individual fields to an entire farm. ECPA’05, 857–863.
Fraisse, C. W., Sudduth, K. A., Kitchen, N. R., & Feidgen, J. J. (1999). Use of unsupervised clustering algorithms of delineationg within-field management zones. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: ASAE.
Frogbrook, Z. L., & Oliver, M. A. (2007). Identifying management zones in agricultural fields using spatially constrained classification of soil and ancillary. Soil Use and Management, 23, 40–51.
Goovaerts, P. (1998). Geostatistical tools for characterizing spatial variability of microbiological and physico-chemical soil properties. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 27, 315–334.
Inamura, T., Goto, K., Iida, M., Nonami, K., Inoue, H., & Umeda, M. (2004). Geostatistical analysis of yield, soil properties and crop management practices in paddy rice field. Plant Production Science, 7, 230–239.
Inmann, D. J., Khosla, R., & Westfall, D. G. (2005). Nitrogen uptake across site-specific management zones in irrigated corn production systems. Agronomy Journal, 97, 169–176.
Jaynes, D. B., & Colvin, T. S. (1997). Spatialtemporal variability of corn and soybean yield. Agronomy Journal, 89, 30–37.
Kantolic, A. G., & Slafer, G. A. (2001). Photoperiod sensitivity after flowering and seed number determination in indeterminate soybean cultivars. Field Crops Research, 72, 109–118.
Komastu, S., Kobayashi, T., Kitaura, H., & Takehisa, K. (2003). Comprehensive improvement of soil and fertilizer application management for paddy-upland rotation farming. Bulletion of The Shiga Agricultural Research Center Experiment Station, 43, 22–46 (in Japanese).
Mzuku, M., Khosla, R., Reich, R., Inman, D., Smith, F., & Macdonald, L. (2005). Spatial variability of measured soil properties across site-specific management zones. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 69, 1572–1579.
National Research Council. (1997). Precision Agriculture in the 21st Century: Geospatial and information technologies in crop management. Washington, DC, USA: National Academy Press.
Pampolino, M. F., Manguiat, I. J., Ramanathan, S., Gines, H. C., Tan, P. S., Chi, T. T. N., Rajendran, R., & Buresh, R. J. (2007). Environmental impact and economic benefits of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) in irrigated rice systems. Agricultural Systems, 93, 1–24.
Perez-Quezada, J. F., Pettygrove, G. S., & Plant, R. E. (2003). Spatial-temporal analysis of yield and soil factors in two four-crop-rotation fields in the Sacramento valley, California. Agronomy Journal, 95, 676–687.
Plant, R. E. (2001). Site-specific management: the application of information technology to crop production. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 30, 9–29.
Roel, A., & Plant, R. E. (2004). Spatiotemporal analysis of yield variability in two California fields. Agronomy Journal, 96, 77–90.
Sakota, T., Yamaki, T., & Tsuchida, S. (1993). Large-scale paddy field and cost down effect. Hokuriku National Agriculture Experiment Station report, 31, 29–47.
Schepers, A. R., Shanahan, J. F., Lebig, M. A., Schepers, J. S., & Johnson, A. L., Jr. (2004). Appropriateness of management zones for characterizing spatial variability of soil properties and irrigated corn yields across years. Agronomy Journal, 96, 195–203.
Shibusawa, S. (1998). Precision farming and terra-mechanics. Fifth ISTVS Asia-Pacific regional conference in Korea, October 20–22, 1998.
Shoji, K., Kawamura, T., & Horio, H. (2005). Variability of Micro-elevation, yield, and protein content within a transplanted paddy rice. Precision Agriculture, 6, 73–86.
Taylor, J. C., Wood, G. A., Earl, R., & Godwin, R. J. (2003). Soil factors and their influence on within-field crop variability, Part2: spatial analysis and determination of management zones. Biosystems Engineering, 84, 441–453.
Vrindts, E., Mouazen, A. M., Reyniers, M., Maertens, K., Maleki, M. R., Ramon, H., & Baerdemaeker, J. D. (2005). Management zones based on correlation between soil compaction, yield and crop data. Biosystems Engineering, 92, 419–428.
Yanai, J., Lee, C. K., Umeda, M., & Kosaki, T. (2000). Spatial variability of soil chemical properties in a paddy field. Soil Science and Plant Nutrient, 46, 473–482.
Yamagishi, J., Nakamoto, T., & Richner, W. (2003). Stability of spatial variability of wheat and maize biomass in a small field managed under two contrasting tillage systems over 3 years. Field Crops Research, 81, 95–108.
Yoshida, S. (1981). Fundamentals of rice crop science (pp. 155–168). Philippines: International Rice Research Institute.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid Scientific Research (No. 16380016) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. Thanks are due to K. Fukuda and the cooperating farmers who made, this research possible.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ikenaga, S., Inamura, T. Evaluation of site-specific management zones on a farm with 124 contiguous small paddy fields in a multiple-cropping system. Precision Agric 9, 147–159 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-008-9062-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-008-9062-4