Crop Yield Component Mapping for Variable Nitrogen Application
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing agricultural practices apply nitrogen uniformly across fields, leading to inefficiencies and high costs due to the expensive nature of nitrogen, without considering its varying effects on different plant part metrics at different stages of the agricultural cycle.
Innovation Solution
A system generates a crop yield component map by analyzing data from past agricultural cycles, correlating nitrogen application amounts with plant part metrics, allowing for targeted and efficient nitrogen application based on specific field portions and crop growth stages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If nitrogen is applied uniformly across the entire field, then all areas receive adequate nitrogen for crop growth, but nitrogen usage becomes inefficient and costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The field is divided into multiple zones based on yield component data from harvesters, and nitrogen application rates are customized for each zone. This segmentation allows precise nitrogen delivery where needed while avoiding waste in areas with lower nitrogen requirements, directly resolving the contradiction between ensuring adequate growth and improving efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Different nitrogen application rates are applied to different spatial locations within the field based on local yield component characteristics. Areas with higher yield potential receive more nitrogen, while areas with lower potential receive less, optimizing nitrogen efficiency while maintaining reliable crop growth across the entire field.
2Ease of operation
If nitrogen is applied equally across the field, then management is simplified, but resource allocation becomes inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
Yield component data is collected and analyzed during the harvest phase before the next planting season begins. This preliminary action creates a spatial map of nitrogen requirements that guides subsequent nitrogen application, allowing optimized resource allocation without complicating management operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses data generated by the harvesters themselves to create the nitrogen application map, eliminating the need for separate field assessment operations. The harvest process automatically provides the information needed for optimized nitrogen management, maintaining operational simplicity while improving resource allocation.
3Reliability
If nitrogen application is increased to ensure adequate supply across all field portions, then crop growth is supported, but costs increase due to the expensive nature of nitrogen
Solution Approach 1:
Yield component data from harvesters provides feedback on the actual nitrogen response of different field portions. This feedback is used to adjust nitrogen application rates for the next season, ensuring adequate supply where needed while reducing application in areas where additional nitrogen would not provide proportional returns, thereby improving cost efficiency.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a system that generates (620) a crop yield component map (510A, 510B, 510) for a field (300). The system determines amounts of nitrogen applied to each portion (320) of the field (300) by a set of nitrogen applicator farming machines. The system accesses (610) crop yield data associated with a crop that was grown in the field (300). The crop yield data was generated by a set of harvester (350) farming machines that travelled through the field (300) and harvested plant (345) parts of the crop. The system determines, by analyzing the crop yield data, plant (345) part metrics for the harvested plant (345) parts in each field portion (320). The system generates (620) a crop yield component map (510A, 510B, 510) that maps, for each field portion (320), a plant (345) part metric associated with the field portion (320) and an amount of nitrogen applied to the field portion (320). The component map (51) may then be provided for display.