Parameterization and Calibration of Wild Blueberry Machine Learning Models to Predict Fruit-Set in the Northeast China Bog Blueberry Agroecosystem

Qu, Hongchun; Xiang, Rui; Obsie, Efrem Yohannes; Dian-wen, Wei; Drummond, Francis

doi:10.3390/agronomy11091736

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…For such processes to occur, they especially need nitrogen to invest in building leaf chlorophyll to produce carbohydrates [5,[30][31][32] and hence flower buds [33]. These flower buds will become fruit in the crop year as long as they receive enough pollination [34,[41][42][43][44]. As a perennial and clonal shrub plant, wild blueberry has a large underground energy and carbohydrate reservoir in the rhizomes and roots.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are Foliar Fertilizers Beneficial to Growth and Yield of Wild Lowbush Blueberries?

et al. 2022

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Wild lowbush blueberry is an economically and culturally important crop in North America. Different fertilizer companies have been advertising their foliar fertilizer products to the wild blueberry growers, claiming better growth and production of this crop with no scientific proof. Although foliar fertilization has shown to be efficient for delivering micronutrients in deficit for different crops by reducing soil activation and environmental contamination, limited research has been done in wild blueberries. It is still unknown how foliar fertilizers affect the physiology, growth, and yield of this crop. Therefore, we tested the impacts of seven foliar treatments containing macro- and micro-nutrients and plant hormones (Seacrop16, Salvador, Agro-Phos applied in 2019 and Kali-T, Nano-Gro, Poma, Poma + Nanocellulose applied in 2020) on this crop for one crop cycle from vegetative year (2019) to crop year (2020). We tested these products against the standard soil-applied granular fertilizer called Diammonium phosphate (DAP) and control (no fertilizer) in a randomized complete block design with eight replicates in a conventional wild blueberry field in Maine, USA. In 2019, no significant differences across the applied treatments were observed in crop physiology and growth except in leaf chlorophyll concentration. In 2020, there was significantly higher leaf chlorophyll concentration in SeaCrop16 and Poma+Nanocellulose plots, but significantly lower photosynthetic rates in DAP and SeaCrop16 treated plots compared to the control. Meanwhile, no significant differences in plant height, leaf characteristics, or blueberry yield were found among the treatments. Overall, mobile nutrients (N, P, K) from soil applied fertilizers and foliar fertilizers containing other immobile nutrients (Ca) and/or plant hormones might benefit crop growth, but the impact on yield is limited. We also reveal that the wild blueberry physiological and morphological traits and leaf nutrients in the vegetative year are more related to the crop yield than those traits in the crop year. This implies that a combination of wild blueberry physiology, morphology, and leaf nutrients in the vegetative year largely impact their yield in the following crop year.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The carbohydrates produced in the vegetative year could be crucial for the flower development in the crop year when leaves are still young. In the crop year, more vital factors such as pollination, pest pressure, and soil moisture during fruit set and maturation determine actual fruit production [10,[41][42][43][44].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Foliar Fertilizers Beneficial to Growth and Yield of Wild Lowbush Blueberries?

et al. 2022

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“…This could be related to pollination. Precipitation intensity and frequencies, along with temperature and wind velocity, during the pollination period (April-May) in crop year would affect the bee pollination, which significantly affects the wild blueberry yield in July and August [42,[45][46][47]. In addition,…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the availability of resources such as soil moisture and nutrients [42], determined by the precipitation and temperature [38], during fruit set and maturation (May-June) right after the pollination period ends, decides the fate of the final fruit production (July-August) [45][46][47][48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Drought Increasing in Maine and Hurting Wild Blueberry Production?

Barai

Tasnim

Rahimzadeh-Bajgiran

et al. 2021

Climate

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A few severe drought events occurred in the Northeast (NE) USA in recent decades and caused significant economic losses, but the temporal pattern of drought incidents and their impacts on agricultural systems have not been well assessed. Here, we analyzed historical changes and patterns of drought using a drought index (standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration index (SPEI)), and assessed drought impacts on remotely sensed vegetation indices (enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)) and production (yield) of the wild blueberry fields in Maine, USA. We also analyzed the impact of short- and long-term water conditions of the growing season on the wild blueberry vegetation condition and production. No significant changes in the SPEI were found in the past 71 years, despite a significant warming pattern. There was also a significant relationship between the relatively long-term SPEI and the vegetation indices (EVI and NDVI), but not the short-term SPEI (one year). This suggests that the crop vigor of wild blueberries is probably determined by water conditions over a relatively long term. There were also significant relationships between 1-year water conditions (SPEI) and yield for a non-irrigated field, and between 4-year-average SPEI and the yield of all fields in Maine. The vegetation indices (EVI and NDVI) are not good predictors of wild blueberry yield, possibly because wild blueberry yield does not only depend on crop vigor, but also on other important variables such as pollination. We also compared an irrigated and a non-irrigated wild blueberry field at the same location (Deblois, Maine) where we found that irrigation decoupled the relationship between the SPEI and NDVI or EVI.

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“…BEE-STEWARD is one research and decision-support software tool that can show how different environmental variables impact wild bumble bees in the landscape (Twiston-Davies et al, 2021). Climate-induced declines in fruit set in bog blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum L.) has also been predicted to be mitigated with increases in honey bee and bumble bee densities using predictive modeling approaches based on the transfer learning concept to solve for data deficiency problems (Qu et al, 2021). More recently, an agent-based model was used in kiwi [Actinidia chinensis var.…”

Section: Decision Aid Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward evidence-based decision support systems to optimize pollination and yields in highbush blueberry

DeVetter

Chabert

Milbrath

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) is a globally important fruit crop that depends on insect-mediated pollination to produce quality fruit and commercially viable yields. Pollination success in blueberry is complex and impacted by multiple interacting factors including flower density, bee diversity and abundance, and weather conditions. Other factors, including floral traits, bee traits, and economics also contribute to pollination success at the farm level but are less well understood. As blueberry production continues to expand globally, decision-aid technologies are needed to optimize and enhance the sustainability of pollination strategies. The objective of this review is to highlight our current knowledge about blueberry pollination, where current research efforts are focused, and where future research should be directed to successfully implement a comprehensive blueberry pollination decision-making framework for modern production systems. Important knowledge gaps remain, including how to integrate wild and managed pollinators to optimize pollination, and how to provide predictable and stable crop pollination across variable environmental conditions. In addition, continued advances in pesticide stewardship are required to optimize pollinator health and crop outcomes. Integration of on- and off-farm data, statistical models, and software tools could distill complex scientific information into decision-aid systems that support sustainable, evidence-based pollination decisions at the farm level. Utility of these tools will require multi-disciplinary research and strategic deployment through effective extension and information-sharing networks of growers, beekeepers, and extension/crop advisors.

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Parameterization and Calibration of Wild Blueberry Machine Learning Models to Predict Fruit-Set in the Northeast China Bog Blueberry Agroecosystem

Cited by 10 publications

References 63 publications

Are Foliar Fertilizers Beneficial to Growth and Yield of Wild Lowbush Blueberries?

Are Foliar Fertilizers Beneficial to Growth and Yield of Wild Lowbush Blueberries?

Is Drought Increasing in Maine and Hurting Wild Blueberry Production?

Toward evidence-based decision support systems to optimize pollination and yields in highbush blueberry

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