Field-Scale Experiments for Site-Specific Crop Management. Part II: A Geostatistical Analysis

Part II analyses approach C experiments. Field-scale experiments were applied to four wheat fields in the Western Australian wheat belt. Different experimental designs were used: two two-dimensional sine-waves, a chequerboard, and a two-factor strip arrangement. In each experiment, the yield associated with a particular treatment was predicted by kriging to where the other treatments were located. Different forms of kriging were investigated. Co-located cokriging, using the previous-season yield map as a covariate, was the most promising. The kriged data were then modelled with polynomial yield response functions. The outcome was a map for each field that described the optimum application of experimental input. The requirements varied continuously across the field, and could justify future site-specific crop management. The two-factor strip experiment was the most successful of those presented; the field on which it was used showed relatively strong responses to the applied inputs. The other sites were affected by lack of rain and/or design flaws. The underlying philosophy is sound, but the method proposed is time-consuming and inefficient. We hope that this paper can stimulate further research on the subject.