Award details

Advanced technologies for efficient crop management: A participatory approach with application at farm scale

Reference	BB/P004458/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Steve Hoad
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Professor Andrew Barnes, Dr Fiona Borthwick, Professor Bob Rees
Institution	SRUC
Department	Research
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	378,647
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/12/2016
End date	30/11/2020
Duration	48 months

Abstract

We will develop technologies with the ability to predict, analyse and guide response to yield reduction for specific UK crop production systems (wheat and potatoes), with a focus on water and nutrient challenges. Using these technologies, in partnership with farmers and other stakeholders, we will construct a tool to inform better management decisions, to minimise risk and improve efficiency of resource use. Our key technologies are multi-platform sensors, process modelling, and data assimilation algorithms for generating robust diagnostics and analyses. A challenge for farmers is to know when and how much fertiliser to apply, so that nutrient limitations to yield are avoided, while the use of agronomic inputs are minimised and made more efficient. We will evaluate technologies to determine in near real time the degree of nutrient limitation (with N as a focus) and the optimal timing and amount of fertilizer addition. A second challenge for farmers is to understand the effects of moisture stress on yield, to evaluate the potential benefits of irrigation or soil improvement for water retention, on yield. We will produce toolkits that determine the degree of such limitation and its links to soil structure and water inputs, at high spatial resolution (sub-field) and up to farm scale. Central to this proposal is the understanding that attitudes, behaviours and networks of end users must be integrated into the development of the tool from the start. The 'Innovation Systems' approach recognises that the needs and application opportunities of end users must be understood and integrated into the final tool in order to increase uptake and relevance. This proposal will include a robust social science work package, fully integrated, providing a range of opportunities for the co-creation of a user friendly tool.

Summary

Changing climate, variable yields, and resource constraints are challenging UK agriculture and global food security. Our goal is to enhance sustainable and efficient production for two crops of major importance in the UK, wheat and potatoes. We will work with farmers and end users in the application and deployment of novel crop sensing and diagnostic technologies. We will develop a tool that can predict and diagnose crop response to water and nutrient related limits. In turn, this knowledge will guide crop management and help to inform stakeholders from across the arable supply chain about the best approaches for land management towards more sustainable and efficient production, using precision agriculture. We will test remote sensing technologies and couple them with methods for analysing crop and soil processes. We will deploy sensors at farm sites on fixed towers and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and compare these against satellite sensors with global coverage. We will evaluate whether changes in leaf temperature, fluorescence and reflectance are related to yield reductions, comparing sensor data against field measurements of plant growth, yield and ecophysiology, and plant and soil temperature and moisture. We will understand how, and under what circumstances, sensors and platforms can be employed to determine and diagnose crop yield limits. Links to simulation process modelling will provide a rich set of diagnostics related to the plant-soil system, and forecast its sensitivity to management changes. Data assimilation approaches will allow model updates and improvements based on field observations and sensor output, to generate more reliable, near real-time and robust analyses. Our technologies will underpin a crop diagnostic system, indicating crop water and nutrient status, quantifying reductions to yield, that can be used at sub-field to farm scale, with a clear quantification of reliability. Working with farmers, our technologies will be combined to generate a decision support tool, with capacity for (i) immediate (near-real time) mapping of crop stress, and its likely impact on crop yield and (ii) providing detailed spatial information on optimal management interventions to support decision making for sustainable high yield. This work directly addresses a priority of the UK research councils to support UK farming with high quality and practical research to support consistent high returns from crop production against a background of changing climate and increasingly competitive global markets. Our deliverables will provide advanced diagnostics for farmers, and guide cost effective strategies for water and nutrient management for consistent yield.

Impact Summary

Improving resource use efficiency and yield stability are critical challenges faced by the UK agricultural sector at a time of increasing climate variability and resource scarcity. The outcomes of our research into these topics will therefore be highly relevant to the development of the wheat and potato sectors in coming decades. We will work with farmers and agronomists to develop an effective support tool for more sustainable and reliable yield, linking to our activities on Focus Farms and Monitor Farms, and discussions with Arable Business Groups. We will have project demonstrations at SRUC and AHDB events. Close engagement with SARIC members will be sought for maximum impact on growers (e.g. AHDB), technological applications (e.g. Ursula) and for international crop sustainability (ABagri). Other business related precision farming technology, environmental and fertilizer management will be encouraged to have direct involvement in the evaluation and adoption of crop and land management practices emerging from this project through our workshops and open-days. We will engage with policy makers through APHA, SASA, and with Scottish policy advisers linked to the Centre for Expertise in Climate Change, the Centre for Knowledge Exchange and Impact (CKEI) and the newly developing Centre of Expertise on Plant Health through generating policy notes. The role of our consortium partner SRUC as a founder member of the Centre for Agricultural Informatics and Sustainability (AIMS) and the Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre will ensure close liaison, benefits from their industry links, and maximum interactions with related projects. Connections to the centres will ensure (i) data originating from the project are fully integrated for use by the research community with wider assessment of their agricultural development, and (ii) the evaluation and uptake by industry partners of new technology from the outcomes of our research. The amplification of our research through the involvement of experimental and validation platforms across a network of commercial farms will ensure the maximum potential impact of our research. There will also be an opportunity to deploy new decision support tools through the national consultancy service operated by SRUC, using its existing network of advisory offices and staff. Understanding the attitudes and behaviours among a network of end users will be integrated into the development and uptake of decision tools. The project will work with AHDB in local and national knowledge exchange activities to demonstrate technologies and support tools, and their value in adoption on farm. We will discuss with relevant SARIC industry members (including water companies) the potential value generated by our landscape analyses of soil states for water management and conservation. Our dissemination programme to the farming community and supporting industries will be extended to outreach activities including the Edinburgh International Science Festival, with an exhibit based on the technologies developed and a prototype of the decision support tool displayed to the public. Our UAV for capturing information on crop and soil status, will be displayed, with videos of it in action, and the data it records. Across all our activities, presented in the Pathways to Impact, we will explain the technologies we are deploying, the challenges we are addressing and opportunities gained in our research.

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Crop Science, Plant Science
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Sustainable Agriculture Research and Innovation Club (SARIC) [2014]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

Associated awards:

BB/P004628/1 Advanced technologies for efficient crop management: A participatory approach with application at farm scale

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