Precision in Grain Yield Monitoring Technologies: A Review

Spatial variability in crop productivity is the result of soil variability at spatial scale. Assessing soil and crop infield variability is very crucial and the first step of precision agriculture. Spatial variability of all the determinants of crop yield should be well recognized, adequately quantified and properly located. In precision agriculture, after assessing the in-field variability, the same is taken care of through site-specific planting, site-specific nutrient and other input applications. To maximize economic return from agricultural production units, costs have to be minimized and benefits maximized. In this paper, an overview has been given about the past and current research toward the evaluation of currently available sensors used in combine harvesters for measuring grain yield. Sensors based on measurement of impact, volume and weight are available commercially.