Plant sampling grid determination in precision agriculture in coffee field

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate different grid samples applied to plant properties of a coffee plantation by using precision coffee growing and geostatistical techniques. The study was performed at the Brejão Farm in the municipality of Três Pontas, MG, Brazil, using productivity, the maturation index and the detachment force difference, sampled at georeferenced points. With the intention of choosing an optimum grid, 20 grid samples were tested through semivariogram fitting and validation tests seeking to combine the accuracy and precision that the grid sample can present through an optimal grid indicator, allowing choosing a more suitable grid. It was possible to characterize the magnitude of the spatial variability of plant properties under study in all the proposed grids. The grid that best represented the three variables under study was the grid with 64 sample points in squared grid and nine zoom grid points. The proposed methodology for the present study allowed observing the difference among different grid samples and among the variables of plant productivity, maturity index and detachment force.