Decision support for crop management using remote sensing

Researchers and industry groups are working on developing precision farming practices enabling farmers to apply prescribed quantities of different inputs (fertilizers, herbicides water etc) to different parts of the field. Mapping fields, using GPS and remote sensing is becoming a quite common technology. However, the development of the decision-making tools for prescribing amounts of inputs is lagging behind. This paper describes the planned integration of a general crop management program that was developed to provide water and fertilizer management decision support (Cropflex) with a GIS platform and enabling it to receive remote sensing input to be used with precision and traditional farming practices. The management decision tools of Cropflex are going to be adjusted to use remote sensing data to provide spatial crop management advice on a large-scale area. Cropflex was developed to provide irrigation and fertility management advice to assist producers in maintaining or increasing yields while minimizing the potential of leaching nitrates. Cropflex is composed of four components: irrigation-module, fertility-module, yield prediction module, and leaching assessment module. The different components of Cropflex and newly developed agronomic models will be integrated into the remote sensing program to provide management advice.