This paper proposes an automatic expert system for accuracy crop row detection in maize fields based on images acquired from a vision system. Different applications in maize, particularly those based on site specific treatments, require the identification of the crop rows. The vision system is designed with a defined geometry and installed onboard a mobile agricultural vehicle, i.e. submitted t...

Background: The EU-project Flourish intends to establish an autonomously operating precision farming system based on the interaction between unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). For effective mission planning and site-specific ground intervention by the UGV, the growth, mineral nutrition, weed, and health status of the crop field must be evaluated efficiently. In...

The Weishan Irrigation Zone along the lower reaches of the Yellow River consists of a total irrigated area of 3600 ha. The region has an average annual rainfall of 500–600 mm, with 60–70% of local rainfall occurring during the summer, and with less than 15% in spring. The water deficit during the spring affects the winter wheat growth from March to early June, which is a major growth period sig...

The options for increasing food production by at least 70% over the next four decades so as to keep pace with a rapidly increasing human population are bedeviled by erratic climatic conditions, depleted arable lands, dwindling water resources and by the significant environmental and health costs for increasing the use of agrochemicals. Enhanced productivities through “smart” crop varieties that...

This work was undertaken to devise a technique to measure the height of crops in farmland Ž elds through remote sensing. Crop height is a useful spatial variable which, when measured by ground-based manual survey, has proven to be an important predictor of bird species population. An airborne scanning laser system capable of measuring topography to a height accuracy of better than 10 cm was use...

Timely and efficient monitoring of crop phenology at a high spatial resolution are crucial for the precise and effective management of agriculture. Recently, satellite-derived vegetation indices (VIs), such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), have been widely used for the phenology detection of terrestrial ecosystems. In this paper, a framework is proposed to detect crop pheno...

The feasibility of automated individual crop plant care in vegetable crop fields has increased, resulting in improved efficiency and economic benefits. A systems-based approach is a key feature in the engineering design of mechanization that incorporates precision sensing techniques. The objective of this study was to design new sensing capabilities to measure crop plant spacing under different...

In diploids, crop improvement has been assisted by genome maps, but the traditional maps based on visible mutations that are simply inherited cannot be applied to polyploids. In addition, morphological markers are few in number, they often interact epistatically and in a dominant.recessive manner, and may exert such a strong effect as to be undesirable in a breeding programme. Molecular marker ...

Sodium azide, a chemical mutagen has become important tool to enhance agronomic traits of crop plants. It is being used to produce resistance in various susceptible crops to improve their yield and quality traits against harmful pathogens. There are several mutagens available for crop improvement and each mutagen has its important role as positive or negative effects on crops. Sodium azide crea...