The Now and Next of Cotton Scouting Technology
When it comes to in-season management, the cotton crop presents agronomists with challenges that must be monitored, writes Paul Schrimpf at CropLife.
With the plethora of technologies unleashed on agriculture for a wide range of crops in recent years, a number of individuals, companies, and organizations are working to test their mettle in the cotton market. Among those leading the way is Ed Barnes, Senior Director of Agricultural and Environmental Research at Cotton Inc.
Barnes works extensively with companies and Universities on identifying the best pathways to commercializing technology for in-season scouting, and there are several promising products and practices that have, or will soon, emerge for use in the cotton production cycle.
Irrigation, Pests
The ubiquity of phone connectivity has led to targeted, highly functional apps to provide support and help maximize every scouting trip in the field.
For example, while irrigation in the southeast and mid-south regions has increased substantially in cotton and other crops, it’s a tricky business. Hyper-local pop-up storm activity is the norm, which confounds weather models based on ground sensing technology. And less is understood about the physiology of cotton as far as the impact of moisture deprivation — how much yield is lost if no rain falls during boll fill time?
Developed by the University of Georgia in conjunction with Cotton Incorporated, the SmartIrrigation Cotton app has been available to alert field scouts to irrigation deficit issues in fields since 2014. The app combines data from a farm-based sensor station, which is required for maximum effectiveness, with data aggregated from a range of available sources: meteorological data, soil parameters, crop growth stage, crop coefficients, measured rainfall and irrigation applications. The app returns an estimate of root zone soil water deficits in terms of inches of water and percent of total, which can be used to decide whether the time is right to apply water to a field.
GA Cotton Insect Advisor is an expert system for determining Extension prescribed insecticide treatments for management of cotton insect pests in the state of Georgia. The app displays the most appropriate insecticide or tankmix after users provide the appropriate week of bloom, predominant stink bug species, percent internal boll injury and other pests present. At present, the app is intended for management of stink bugs. Recommendations are based on information on the manufacturer’s label and performance data from research and extension trials at the University of Georgia.
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