Mapping and managing vineyard homogeneous zones through proximal geoelectrical sensing

Resumen

The objective was to delimitate homogeneous soil zones that correspond to differentiated areas of growth and yield of a vineyard, using soil electrical resistivity. The soil electrical resistivity (ρ) at three depths was measured with an automatic on-the-go recording resistivity meter, the data was georeferenced, and zones of homogeneous soil characteristics were drawn. A grid of equally spaced sampling points was superimposed to the area where vegetative growth and yield data of the grapevines were recorded. ρ showed a marked spatial distribution and two homogeneous areas were delineated. ρ ranged from 48.6 to 54.3 ohm-metre for cluster A and from 90.2 to 208.5 ohm-metre for cluster B. Negative significant correlations were found between ρ and plant growth and yield variables. Vegetative growth and crop yield were significantly different between homogeneous soil ρ areas. Plants growing on cluster A had an average shoot length of 1.4 m and yielded 3.1 kg per plant; on cluster B, shoot length was 0.9 m and yield was 0.9 kg per plant. The procedure of measuring the soil electrical resistivity and georeferencing methodology proved fast and reliable, albeit expensive, and might be a useful tool in precision viticulture for delineating homogeneous soil zones. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.