Remote Sensing Techniques for Assessing Water Deficits and Modeling Crop Response

Abstract

<jats:p>Advances in horticultural production technology are often hindered by slow grower adoption. Low adoption rates are largely the product of skepticism, which can lead to weaknesses in the commercialization process and affect future research and product development. To better understand industry concerns and design effective outreach methods, an information technology survey was designed as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative project titled Comprehensive Automation for Specialty Crops (CASC). This study outlines the survey results from 111 participants at tree fruit meetings in the Pacific northwestern and eastern United States in 2009. Many of the misgivings about new automated technologies, such as equipment cost and reliability of harvest assist, sensor systems, and fully automated harvest machinery, were consistent across the country. Subtle differences appeared between the eastern U.S. and Pacific northwestern U.S. responses, including justifiable equipment price points and irrigation and pest concerns; these are likely attributable to regional differences in climate, operation size and scale, and marketing strategies. These survey data will help the project team better address grower concerns and uncertainty on a regional and national level, thereby improving adoption speed and rates after CASC-developed technologies are rolled out.</jats:p>

Specialty Crop Growers’ Perspectives on Adopting New Technologies

“…A survey was conducted the first year of the CASC project to assess factors that might influence the adoption of automation and crop intelligence technologies under investigation (Ellis et al, 2010). Over 100 specialty crop producers were surveyed at tree fruit conventions held in the mid-Atlantic U.S. and Pacific northwestern U.S. fruit growing regions.…”

Innovations in Disease Detection and Forecasting: A Digital Roadmap for Sustainable Management of Fruit and Foliar Disease

“…To our knowledge, there are a reasonable number of benefits arising from the abovementioned practices; nevertheless, precision agriculture technologies are not extensively adopted [18][19][20]. According to Pierpaoli et al [8], precision agriculture technologies are mainly adopted by educated farmers who own large farms and are interested in enhancing soil quality in the face of growing competitive pressure.…”

Canopy spray application technology in specialty crops: a slowly evolving landscape

“…While adoption rates are low, there is interest among farmers in precision spray technology. Apple growers from three different regions in the USA ( n = 108) were surveyed to gauge their interest in precision technologies for certain field tasks, and precision spraying was at the top of the list alongside fruit thinning and harvesting automation 12 . An interest in adopting precision spraying technology has been motivated by the prospect of improved profitability of using precision sprayers, labor shortages, and increasingly stringent regulation against pesticide drift.…”