Advanced technologies for efficient crop management: A participatory approach with application at farm scale

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We will develop technologies with the ability to predict, analyse and guide response to yield reduction for specific UK crop production systems (wheat and potatoes), with a focus on water and nutrient challenges. Using these technologies, in partnership with farmers and other stakeholders, we will construct a tool to inform better management decisions, to minimise risk and improve efficiency of resource use. Our key technologies are multi-platform sensors, process modelling, and data assimilation algorithms for generating robust diagnostics and analyses. A challenge for farmers is to know when and how much fertiliser to apply, so that nutrient limitations to yield are avoided, while the use of agronomic inputs are minimised and made more efficient. We will evaluate technologies to determine in near real time the degree of nutrient limitation (with N as a focus) and the optimal timing and amount of fertilizer addition. A second challenge for farmers is to understand the effects of moisture stress on yield, to evaluate the potential benefits of irrigation or soil improvement for water retention, on yield. We will produce toolkits that determine the degree of such limitation and its links to soil structure and water inputs, at high spatial resolution (sub-field) and up to farm scale. Central to this proposal is the understanding that attitudes, behaviours and networks of end users must be integrated into the development of the tool from the start. The 'Innovation Systems' approach recognises that the needs and application opportunities of end users must be understood and integrated into the final tool in order to increase uptake and relevance. This proposal will include a robust social science work package, fully integrated, providing a range of opportunities for the co-creation of a user friendly tool.

Improving resource use efficiency and yield stability are critical challenges faced by the UK agricultural sector at a time of increasing climate variability and resource scarcity. The outcomes of our research into these topics will therefore be highly relevant to the development of the wheat and potato sectors in coming decades.

We will work with farmers and agronomists to develop an effective support tool for more sustainable and reliable yield, linking to our activities on Focus Farms and Monitor Farms, and discussions with Arable Business Groups. We will have project demonstrations at SRUC and AHDB events. Close engagement with SARIC members will be sought for maximum impact on growers (e.g. AHDB), technological applications (e.g. Ursula) and for international crop sustainability (ABagri).

Other business related precision farming technology, environmental and fertilizer management will be encouraged to have direct involvement in the evaluation and adoption of crop and land management practices emerging from this project through our workshops and open-days.
We will engage with policy makers through APHA, SASA, and with Scottish policy advisers linked to the Centre for Expertise in Climate Change, the Centre for Knowledge Exchange and Impact (CKEI) and the newly developing Centre of Expertise on Plant Health through generating policy notes.

The role of our consortium partner SRUC as a founder member of the Centre for Agricultural Informatics and Sustainability (AIMS) and the Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre will ensure close liaison, benefits from their industry links, and maximum interactions with related projects. Connections to the centres will ensure (i) data originating from the project are fully integrated for use by the research community with wider assessment of their agricultural development, and (ii) the evaluation and uptake by industry partners of new technology from the outcomes of our research.

The amplification of our research through the involvement of experimental and validation platforms across a network of commercial farms will ensure the maximum potential impact of our research. There will also be an opportunity to deploy new decision support tools through the national consultancy service operated by SRUC, using its existing network of advisory offices and staff. Understanding the attitudes and behaviours among a network of end users will be integrated into the development and uptake of decision tools. The project will work with AHDB in local and national knowledge exchange activities to demonstrate technologies and support tools, and their value in adoption on farm.

We will discuss with relevant SARIC industry members (including water companies) the potential value generated by our landscape analyses of soil states for water management and conservation. Our dissemination programme to the farming community and supporting industries will be extended to outreach activities including the Edinburgh International Science Festival, with an exhibit based on the technologies developed and a prototype of the decision support tool displayed to the public. Our UAV for capturing information on crop and soil status, will be displayed, with videos of it in action, and the data it records. Across all our activities, presented in the Pathways to Impact, we will explain the technologies we are deploying, the challenges we are addressing and opportunities gained in our research.