Geo-Spatial Yield Monitoring Technology for Mechanized Almond harvest Sethuramasamyraja Balaji1,*, Sehgal Sunny1, Yager Jim2 1Department of Industrial Technology, California State University, Fresno 2255 E Barstow Ave, M/S IT 09, Fresno, CA 937408002, USA 2Impact Marketing Enterprises & Hydroponic Mastery Inc., Fresno, CA 93740, USA *Email: balajis@csufresno.edu
Online published on 3 January, 2012. Abstract Yield monitoring is critical for almond growers to garner profitability through application of geospatial technology and site specific crop management in almond production. Almond growers could optimize water and application of inputs based on soil thematic layer of the field that has a strong correlation to yield besides management practices. In this research a commercially deployable yield monitor was developed for almonds with sensing, global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information systems (GIS) technology (DigiStar® Yield Monitor). Yield maps were developed for production almond fields. The yield data was validated using sampling datasets which were in turn correlated to soil thematic layer developed using soil electrical conductivity (Veris® 3100 EC Mapper). The sampling from multiple soil zones representing a soil texture were correlated to the almond turn out ratio. Also, the effect of navel orange worm (NOW) on almond meat turn out ratio was reported. Top Keywords Precision agriculture, precision viticulture, differential harvest, anthocyanin, wine grapes, geostatistics, kriging. Top |