Delineation of Sensor Based Management Zones to Improve Farm Profitability and Lower Environmental Risks in Potato Cropping Systems

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Potato production in Canada typically involves uniform application of agrochemicals (fertilizer, lime andpesticides) during a growing season, ignoring spatial and temporal variations that exist within fields. Uniformapplication not only increases the production cost but also adversely affects our environment (increasedgreenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, nitrate leaching into sub-surface/ground waters, nutrient runoff into waterbodies, damaging aquaculture and fisheries and deterioration of air quality).This project will address the urgent needs of the Potato Board Prince Edward Island (PEI) to find a novel andinnovative solution to direct nutrient management strategies on an as-needed basis. This project will evaluatethe feasibility and practicality of the electromagnetic induction based sensor (DualEM) to develop managementzones (MZs) for site-specific application of crop inputs (Fertilizer and lime). The main goal of this research isto: 1) calibrate the DualEM sensor in variable soil conditions across the PEI using physical soil sampling andanalysis, 2) identify the optimal frequencies of the DualEM sensor to sense/predict soil fertility status forsite-specific nutrient management, and 3) delineate non-destructive sensor based MZs to optimize crop inputson an as-needed basis. Nutrient management on an as-needed basis has a strong potential to increasefertilizer/lime use efficiency, reduce production cost, and mitigate environmental risks.Currently, there are no protocols available for Potato Board PEI to implement site-specific nutrientmanagement. This project will provide Potato Board PEI with an innovative and non-destructive method todevelop map-based MZs using a DualEM sensor. The developed MZs can optimize nutrient managementprecisely. Furthermore, this research will provide a new knowledge stream based on acquisition of necessarydata to support/implement site-specific nutrient management to improve economic and environmental benefits.