Abstract
A three years study on precision fanning in cotton in central Greece showed serious infield variability of yield and soil physical and chemical properties. Yield mapping constitutes the starting and ending point of the whole process chain in a precision farming system. Yield mapping was performed for three consecutive years in the same cotton fields of central Greece in a wide range of cotton varieties and field conditions with a yield monitor installed on a cotton picker. The yield sensors estimate the flow volume of cotton conveyed from the picking units in the basket through air ducts. The main control unit performs the transformation of the estimated cotton volume in cotton weight using a factor named Calibration Coefficient or Factor. Every time the picking conditions change, like going to a different field or change cotton variety, there is the need to pick a whole load basket and make an actual weighing to inform the main unit to adapt the calibration factor to the correct value. After three cotton yield mapping seasons (overall 200ha) it was observed that there is a straight relation of the value of calibration factor with the cotton variety. The present study shows these results that group the values of calibration factor with corresponding cotton varieties. The results would help in the calibration of the monitors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arslan, S., Colvin, T.S., (2002), Grain Yield Mapping: Yield Sensing, Yield Reconstruction, and Errors, Precision Agriculture, 3, pp. 135–154.
Auernhammer, H., (2001), Precision farming — the environmental challenge, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 30, pp. 31–43.
Durrence, J.S., Perry, C.D., Vellidis, G., Thomas, D.L., Kvien, C.K. (1998), Evaluation of commercially-available cotton yield monitors in Georgia field conditions. ASAE Paper No. 98-3106, St. Joseph, Mich.: ASAE.
Gemtos, T., Fountas, S., Blackmore, B.S., Greipentrog, H.W. (2002), Precision farming experience in Europe and the Greek potential, In: Proceedings of the 1st HAICTA Conference, Athens, 6–7 June 2002: 45–55.
Gemtos, T.A., Markinos, Ath., Toulios, L., Pateras, D., Zerva, G. (2003), A Precision Farming Application in the Small Cotton Farms of Greece, Presented in ITAFE 2003 conference, Izmir, Turkey, 7–9 October 2003, pp.
Grisso, R.D., Jasa, P.J., Schroeder, M.A., Wilcox, J.C. (2002), Yield monitor accuracy: Successful farming magazine case study, Applied Engineering in Agriculture 18(2), pp. 147–151.
Markinos, A., Gemtos, T., Toulios, L., Pateras, D., Zerva, G. (2002), Yield Mapping of Cotton crop in Greece, In: Proceedings of the 1st HAICTA Conf., Athens, 6–7 June 2002: 56–62.
Markinos, Ath, Toulios, L., Pateras, D., Zerva, G., Gemtos, T. A., (2003), Poster in the 4th European Conference on Precision Agriculture, Berlin 16–18 June 2003, pp. 489–490.
Perry, C.D., Durrence, J.S., Thomas, D.L., Vellidis, G., Sobolik, C.J., Dzubak, A. (1998), Evaluation of commercial cotton yield monitors in Georgia field conditions, In. Proc. Fourth International Conference on Site-Specific Management for Agricultural Systems. Madison Wis., pp. 1227–1240.
Reyns, P., Missotten, B., Ramon, H., De Baerdemaeker, J., (2002), A Review of Combine Sensors for Precision Farming, Precision Agriculture, 3, pp. 169–182.
Searcy, S.W., Motz, D.S., Inayatullah, A., Goering, K.J., (1997), Cotton yield mapping. In: Dugger, P., Richter, D.A. (Eds.), Proceedings Beltwide Conference, 6–10 January 1997, New Orleans, LA. National Cotton Council of America, Memphis, TN, pp. 601–603.
Stafford J.V. (2000), Implementing Precision Agriculture in the 21st Century, J. Agr. Engng Res.(76) 267–275
Thomasson, J.A., Pennington, D.A., Pringle, H.C., Columbus, E.P., Thomson, S.J., Byler, R.K. (1999), Cotton mass flow measurements: Experiments with two optical devices. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 15(1), pp. 11–17.
Vellidis, G.C., Perry, D., Rains, G.C., Thomas, D.L., Wells, N., Kvien, C.K. (2003), Simultaneous assessment of cotton yield monitors. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, Vol 19(3), pp. 259–272.
Wallace, T.P., (1999), Small plot evaluation of an electro-optical cotton yield monitor. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 23, pp. 1–8.
Wilkerson, J.B., Kirby, J.S., Hart, W.E., Womac, A.R., (1994), Real-time cotton flow sensor. ASAE Paper No. 941054. American Society of Agricultural Engineers, St. Joseph, MI.
Wilkerson, J.B., Moody, F.H., Hart, W.E., Funk, P.A. (2001), Design and evaluation of a cotton flow rate sensor. Transactions of the ASAE 44(6), pp. 1415–1420.
Wilkerson, J.B., Moody, F.H., Hart, W.E. (2002), Implementation and field evaluation of a cotton yield monitor. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 18(2), pp. 153–159.
Wolak, F.J., Khalilian, A., Dodd, R.B., Han, Y.J., Keshkin, M., Lippert, R.M., Hair, W. (1999), Cotton yield monitor evaluation, South Carolina: Year 2. In Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf., pp. 361–364. Orlando, Fla. 3–7 January. Memphis, Tenn.: National Cotton Council.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Markinos, A.T., Gemtos, T.A., Pateras, D. et al. The influence of cotton variety in the calibration factor of a cotton yield monitor. Oper Res Int J 5, 165–176 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02944169
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02944169