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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #209645

Title: Crop growth and soil water spatial variability under a variable rate center pivot

Author
item Stone, Kenneth
item Bauer, Philip
item Busscher, Warren
item Strickland Jr, Ernest
item Millen, Joseph
item Evans, Dean

Submitted to: European Conference on Precision Agriculture Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/11/2007
Publication Date: 6/6/2007
Citation: Stone, K.C., Bauer, P.J., Busscher, W.J., Strickland Jr, E.E., Millen, J.A., Evans, D.E. 2007. Crop growth and soil water spatial variability under a variable rate center pivot. In: Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Precision Agriculture, June 3-6, 2007, Skiathos, Greece. 4 p.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Precision agriculture has mostly emphasized variable-rate nutrients, seeding, and pesticide applications. More recently, variable-rate irrigation equipment has been developed to explore the potential for managing irrigation spatially. Managing irrigation spatially can enhance water conservation and optimize water applications. Information is needed on how to spatially precision-apply water with these systems. In this research, we investigated using soil electrical conductivity (EC) to delineate management zones for spatial water applications using variable rate irrigation systems. Our preliminary results indicated potentially good correlations between soil EC and spatial plant growth and stomatal resistance.