Tuesday, 8 November 2005
6

Instrumentation of A Transitioning Organic Sweet Potato Field for Continuous Data Collection and Screening.

P. Defoe and K. Kpomblekou-A. Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL 36088

According to USDA, the value of retail sales of organic foods was $7.05 billion in 2001 and is projected to reach $20 billion by the year 2005 in the U.S. Therefore, research data to support this growing market are critically needed. Recent technological advancements in data recording and communications have improved agronomists' ability to successfully collect data and screen for particular parameters on a continuous basis. We have instrumented a transitioning organic farming field located at the Georges Washington Carver Agricultural Experimental Station at Tuskegee University. The experimental design was a randomized-complete-block with four replications and four treatments examining three cultivars, organic, and mineral fertilizations. Treatments included a control (without a fertilizer), broiler litter, Crimson-clover, and NPK fertilizers. A full weather station with a CSI PC208W data logger to continuously record parameters such as rainfall, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, and solar radiation was installed. Time-Domain Reflectometry (TDR) sensor probes in a 3-rod design were installed horizontally at 30, 60, and 90 cm depths and connected to a data logger (CR 10X, Campbell Scientific) to digitally record soil data. The TDR probes recorded soil temperature, soil volumetric water content, and electrical conductivity. A change in volumetric water content of the medium surrounding the probe causes a change in the dielectric constant. This change is seen as probe impedance and affects the shape of the reflection which contains information used to determine water content. A wireless connection to the station enables us to set up, configure, and retrieve data over an Ethernet communications network. These data helped establish relationships between crop yields and environmental factors. The instrumentation improved our effort to modernize data collection capabilities in a timely and convenient manner. It further enables us to continuously monitor trends and screen for specific parameters that may augment sweet potato yields.

Back to Precision Farming and Remote Sensing in Agricultural Systems
Back to A08 Integrated Agricultural Systems

Back to The ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings (November 6-10, 2005)