Coupling field monitoring with crop growth modelling provides detailed insights on yield gaps at field level : A case study on ware potato production in the Netherlands

Context: Yield gap analyses are useful to assess and benchmark the productivity of cropping systems. Often such analyses are performed at higher aggregation levels. As a result, these studies lack the detail to explain yield gaps at field level and hence make it difficult to translate findings into precise recommendations to farmers and extensionists. Objective: This study provides a detailed approach for yield gap assessments at field level through coupling frequent field monitoring in farmers’ fields with crop growth modelling. We used ware potato production in the Netherlands as a case to s... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Ravensbergen, Arie Pieter Paulus
van Ittersum, Martin K.
Kempenaar, Corné
Ramsebner, Nicole
de Wit, David
Reidsma, Pytrik
Dokumenttyp: article/Letter to editor
Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
Schlagwörter: Farm management / On-farm experiments / Solanum tuberosum / Yield response / Yield variability
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29206115
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/coupling-field-monitoring-with-crop-growth-modelling-provides-det

Context: Yield gap analyses are useful to assess and benchmark the productivity of cropping systems. Often such analyses are performed at higher aggregation levels. As a result, these studies lack the detail to explain yield gaps at field level and hence make it difficult to translate findings into precise recommendations to farmers and extensionists. Objective: This study provides a detailed approach for yield gap assessments at field level through coupling frequent field monitoring in farmers’ fields with crop growth modelling. We used ware potato production in the Netherlands as a case to study yield gaps at field level, as average productivity is high whilst yields are still highly variable among fields, and as ware potato is an important cash crop for farmers. Methods: Over two growing seasons, 96 ware potato fields were monitored throughout the growing season on a biweekly basis, taking measurements on soil, crop growth and yield. The crop growth model SWAP-WOFOST was used to simulate potential and water-limited potential yields. Various statistical methods were used to quantify yield gap explaining factors. Results: The average yield gap ranged from 20 to 31% depending on the year and soil type. Among fields, the yield gap ranged from 0 to 51%. On clayey soils, the yield gap was attributed mostly to oxygen stress. On sandy soils, the yield gap was determined mostly by drought stress in 2020, a relatively dry year, and by reducing factors (pests, diseases and poor agronomic practices) in 2021, an average year in terms of precipitation. The type of reducing factors differed per field. Furthermore, we found that earlier planting and later harvesting can increase yields, as Yp is radiation-limited. Conclusions: Overall, there is limited scope to narrow the yield gap as current ware potato production is already close to 80% of the potential yield, which is assumed to be approximately the maximum farmers can attain. However, yield and resource use efficiency gains are to be made for individual fields. ...