TY - JOUR
T1 - Precision irrigation and harvest management in orchards
T2 - an economic assessment
AU - Tamirat, Tseganesh Wubale
AU - Pedersen, Søren Marcus
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Precision management has become vital in agriculture with possibilities growing alongside developments in information and communication, robotics and sensor technologies. On the other side of expected benefits of precision management in terms of environmental friendliness, yield margin, input efficiency, etc., is the upfront expensiveness of such technologies. There is hence a need to quantitatively assess expected net benefits and provide useful information for farmers and stakeholders to enable informed choice on the potential adoption of precision technologies and management practices. This study presents economic assessment of precision irrigation and harvest management system with integrated use of sensor technologies and Farm Management Information System (FMIS) as compared to conventional practice applying partial budgeting as a tool. Relevant scenarios are defined based on data from an experimental apple orchard field situated in Prangins, Switzerland. The precision management system is found to be economically justifiable in situations of high demand for irrigation characterized by limited rainfall and considerable variabilities in weather conditions. Its economic feasibility is found to be sensitive to changes in fruit price and capital cost.
AB - Precision management has become vital in agriculture with possibilities growing alongside developments in information and communication, robotics and sensor technologies. On the other side of expected benefits of precision management in terms of environmental friendliness, yield margin, input efficiency, etc., is the upfront expensiveness of such technologies. There is hence a need to quantitatively assess expected net benefits and provide useful information for farmers and stakeholders to enable informed choice on the potential adoption of precision technologies and management practices. This study presents economic assessment of precision irrigation and harvest management system with integrated use of sensor technologies and Farm Management Information System (FMIS) as compared to conventional practice applying partial budgeting as a tool. Relevant scenarios are defined based on data from an experimental apple orchard field situated in Prangins, Switzerland. The precision management system is found to be economically justifiable in situations of high demand for irrigation characterized by limited rainfall and considerable variabilities in weather conditions. Its economic feasibility is found to be sensitive to changes in fruit price and capital cost.
U2 - 10.5513/JCEA01/20.3.2160
DO - 10.5513/JCEA01/20.3.2160
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1332-9049
VL - 20
SP - 1009
EP - 1022
JO - Journal of Central European Agriculture
JF - Journal of Central European Agriculture
IS - 3
ER -