Publication

Using PhenoCams to track crop phenology and explain the effects of different cropping systems on yield

Christoph Bachofen, Yujie Liu
2022
Journal paper
Abstract

CONTEXT: Crop phenology integrates information of how environmental drivers and management practices affect plant performance and crop yield. However, little is known about the impact of cropping systems (CS) on crop phenology and how this relates to differences in yield. OBJECTIVES: We assessed the applicability of PhenoCams to track crop phenology, how four CS, i.e., organic vs. conventional farming with either intensive or conservation (no/reduced) tillage affect the phenology of a pea-barley mixture and winter wheat, how crop phenology is related to harvest characteristics, e.g., grain yield and total N uptake, and explains CS effects on these characteristics. METHODS: We used time-lapse cameras (PhenoCams) to track vegetation changes in the two crops and extracted the green chromatic coordinate (GCC) to estimate different phenological metrics, i.e., dates with major changes in GCC (PhenoTimePoints), the duration between those (PhenoPhases), and the rate of increasing or decreasing GCC (PhenoSlopes). We assessed how phenological metrics were affected by different CS, and related pheno-logical metrics to harvest characteristics. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: CS significantly affected phenological metrics of both crops, with less pronounced effects in the unfertilized pea-barley mixture compared to the fertilized winter wheat, and stronger effects for early-season than for late-season PhenoTimePoints. For winter wheat, organic compared to conventional farming caused an initial growth lag (up to 7 days) and a shorter duration (approximately 10 days) of the period of stable GCC. Winter wheat in reduced/no-tillage systems showed a tendency of delayed phenology (up to 5 days) compared to intensive tillage. While phenological metrics explained harvest characteristics of winter wheat well, they were almost unrelated to those of pea-barley, most likely because pea-barley yields were similar among CS. For winter wheat, effects of CS on harvest characteristics could be well explained by phenological metrics (max. R2 = 0.9). Thus, we demonstrated that delayed phenology acted as an important factor causing lower yield in organic compared to conventional farming. SIGNIFICANCE: PhenoCams are valuable tool for high-resolution temporal monitoring of crop phenology. As different CS have been proposed as a tool for climate change adaptation, we suggest that the effects of CS on crop phenology need to be considered as they may impact yield via changes in crop phenology, particularly in organic agriculture.

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Related concepts (34)
Organic farming
Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Certified organic agriculture accounts for globally, with over half of that total in Australia. Organic farming continues to be developed by various organizations today.
No-till farming
No-till farming (also known as zero tillage or direct drilling) is an agricultural technique for growing crops or pasture without disturbing the soil through tillage. No-till farming decreases the amount of soil erosion tillage causes in certain soils, especially in sandy and dry soils on sloping terrain. Other possible benefits include an increase in the amount of water that infiltrates into the soil, soil retention of organic matter, and nutrient cycling. These methods may increase the amount and variety of life in and on the soil.
Tillage
Tillage is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shoveling, picking, mattock work, hoeing, and raking. Examples of draft-animal-powered or mechanized work include ploughing (overturning with moldboards or chiseling with chisel shanks), rototilling, rolling with cultipackers or other rollers, harrowing, and cultivating with cultivator shanks (teeth).
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