Delineation of management zones in an apple orchard in Greece using a multivariate approach

Management zone (MZ) delineation is important for the application of Precision Agriculture because farm management decisions are based on it. Several factors were used for the MZ delineation including crop and soil characteristics. In the present paper multivariate analysis was applied to delineate MZs. Soil and crop data, collected over 3 years from a Precision Agriculture project in an apple orchard in Greece, were used. The collected data were categorized in three groups, namely soil properties, yield and fruit quality. All data were analyzed for descriptive statistics and their distribution. Maps of the spatial variability for the 3 years were presented. Data were jointly analyzed for management zone delineation using a combination of multivariate geostatistics with a non-parametric clustering approach, and the orchard was divided in four zones which could be differently managed. However, further research and experimentation are needed before precision horticulture being confidently adopted in Greece. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.