Precision Nitrogen Management for Cotton Using (GreenSeeker) Handheld Crop Sensors

Abstract

The precise monitoring of nitrogen (N) is an effective strategy for enhancing the crop yield per unit of land, but it involves field-level soil and crop data. The two years of experimental study were conducted during the cotton growing seasons of 2018 and 2019 at the Agriculture Research Farm of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. The Nitrogen Fertilizer Optimization Algorithm (NFOA) was formulated based on the observed data for cotton lint yield (CLY) and GreenSeeker Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GSNDVI) during the growing stages of cotton. The precision nitrogen application rate-based green seeker (PNAR) G.S for cotton was identified as 150-165 kg/ha. A linear relationship was observed between CLY (R2 = 0.80) for cotton with the GSNDVI. The average nitrogen requirement (Nreq) using (PNAR) G.S was determined through the nitrogen fertilizer optimization algorithm (NFOA). The Nreq was found to be 0.013 kg/kg for cotton. Precision N management originating from handheld crop sensors (GreenSeeker) may be helpful in decision-making for site-specific in-season N fertilizer management to enhance crop yield.

Keywords

• Green-Seeker
• cotton
• NDVI
• PNAR
• NUE
• NFOA