Precision Crop Protection - the Challenge and Use of Heterogeneity, 2010

Precision farming is an agricultural management system using global navigation satellite systems, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and data management systems for optimizing the use of nutrients, water, seed, pesticides and energy in heterogeneous field situations. This book provides extensive information on the state-of-the-art of research on precision crop protection and recent developments in site-specific application technologies for the management of weeds, arthropod pests, pathogens and nematodes. It gives the reader an up-to-date and in-depth review of both basic and applied research developments. The chapters discuss I) biology and epidemiology of pests, II) new sensor technologies, III) applications of multi-scale sensor systems, IV) sensor detection of pests in growing crops, V) spatial and non-spatial data management, VI) impact of pest heterogeneity and VII) precise mechanical and chemical pest control.

Preface Part I - Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of crops, pests, diseases and weeds– causes and implications 1. Soil heterogeneity and crop growth; V Adamchuk 2. Spatial and temporal dynamics of weed populations; R Gerhards 3. Spatial and temporal dynamics of pathogens; FW Nutter 4. Spatial and temporal dynamics of arthropods in arable fields; M van Helden Part II - Sensing and sensor technologies in crop protection 5. The application of laboratory spectroscopy and optical remote sensing for estimating soil properties; J Hill 6. Sensing of photosynthetic activity of crops; U Rascher 7. Remote sensing for precision crop protection – a matter of scale; K Voss 8. Detection and identification of weeds; M Weis 9. Detection of fungal diseases optically and pathogen inoculum by air sampling; JS West 10. Remote sensing for the detection of plant parasitic nematodes and disease complexes; R Sikora 11. Potential of digital thermography for disease control; EC Oerke 12. Geographical approaches for integrated pest management of arthropods in forestry and row crops; J Willers Part III - Modelling and decision support systems 13. Handling and managment of spatial data; G Bareth 14. Decision rules for site-specific weed management; C Gutjahr 15. Modelling plant diseases for decision making in crop protection; V Rossi 16. Model validation and use of geographic information systems (GIS) in crop protection warning service; P Racca Part IV - Application technologies for site-specific crop protection 17. Mechanical weed control; V Rueda-Ayala 18. Direct injection sprayer technolouy; P Schulze Lammers 19. Modern application techniques for pesticides; J Langewald 20. Autonomous systems for plant protection; HW Griepentrog 21. Variable rate technology for herbicide application; M Sökefeld 22. Variable rate application of fungicides; KH Dammer Part V - Current use of Precision Crop Protection in practice 23. Providing precision crop and range protection inthe U.S. Northern Great Plains; G Seielstad 24. Site-specific detection and management of nematodes; J Muller 25. Precision disease control in bed-grown crop; J Van de Zande 26. Economic evaluation of precision crop protection measures; JO Schroers Index