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Identification of Management Zones Based on Cotton Yield and Soil Parameters

J. Ping and C. J. Green


 
ABSTRACT

Management zones are the blue-prints for site-specific management practices. However, since crop yields are comprehensively affected by many factors, development of these management zones can be difficult. Furthermore, factors affecting yield can change spatially and may interact with each other, which intensifies the difficulty in developing reasonable management zones. Previous research has shown that delineating management zones is crucial to precision farming. Although several methods have been tested for defining management zones, currently there is no single method in use to meet the practical need for site-specific management. The objective of this paper is to delineate potential management zones from cotton yield and soil parameters by using cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, and other multivariate analysis techniques. Four and three management zones were identified based on the yield groups and MSLCs of soil parameters influencing cotton yields with cluster grouping method and quartile grouping method, respectively. The results also show that the cluster grouping method is better than the quartile methods for delineating yield groups and potential management zones. The application of multivariate analysis can simplify multiple variables and help reveal the relationships between crop yields and soil parameters.





Reprinted from Proceedings of the 2001 Beltwide Cotton Conferences pp. 571 - 574
©National Cotton Council, Memphis TN

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Document last modified XXXXXX, XXX XX 2001