ABSTRACT

Cotton production is one of the most important agricultural enterprises in Texas. However, cotton production is subject to many constraints, such as nitrogen (N) fertilizer availability. Precision farming is an alternative technology that farmers can use to more efficiently apply N fertilizer in cotton. One of the most important issues considered in the implementation of precision agriculture, especially in variable rate N application, is the delineation of optimal management zones. The objective of this paper is to develop a method that could potentially give guidelines on how to use site-specific information to establish management zones. In particular, we build upon Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) techniques to develop management zone delineation procedures for precision farming. The data in this study is from an experiment developed in the Southern High Plains of Texas in 2002. The experiment was design primarily to study N use in cotton production. Based on this data, the preliminary methods developed in this study did not show any significant spatial patterns that can be used for delineating management zones. However, it is important to recognize that these results are still preliminary. More work in terms of data manipulation and analysis may be required to streamline the procedure for effective management zone delineation. Nevertheless, we believe that the method is a workable methodology to detect spatial patterns that can potentially help farmers and crops consultants in the definition of management zones.