Soil organic matter (SOM) plays a pivotal role in soil quality and fertility, affecting soil physical, chemical, and biological properties. In particular, SOM can effectively modulate drought resilience and crop productivity by improving water retention, aggregate stability and nutrient availability of soil. In this study, we propose a multidisciplinary approach for monitoring crop physiological responses to drought in order to identify resilient management practices. We combined drone-based multispectral remote sensing with measurements of soil properties (organic carbon -SOC-, total nitrogen -TN-, texture, pH, exchangeable bases, available phosphorus, pH, electrical conductivity) at two depths (0-15 and 15-30 cm) over multiple pilot farms and different crops (maize, sugar beet, asparagus) in the Veneto region (North of Italy). We aimed to identify the main soil physical and chemical properties correlated with a crop health index (SVI - Standardized Vegetation Index) during droughts. We quantified the spatial autocorrelation of crop health, and summarized the degree to which similar areas of high productivity tended to occur near each other over the study area, and how these clusters correlated with soil properties, including SOC content. The spatial variability analysis revealed an overall homogeneous response for plots submitted to severe and moderate drought, independently of the crop type. We identified plots in very good conditions, where SOC was linked to a more homogeneous variability of ‘healthy’ vegetation, and plots that, being poor in SOC, tended to result in hotspots of stress conditions in vegetation. Moreover, TN strongly and positively correlated with SOC in the plots showing healthy vegetation, suggesting its possible combined influence on drought resilience. This study highlights how SOM can strongly influence key parameters of crop productivity during droughts, emphasizing the importance of preserving or improving SOC content in agricultural soils to ensure a resilient and sustainable agriculture, especially in a climate change scenario.
Combining drone-based multispectral remote sensing with soil analysis for a resilient agriculture to climate change
Sinatra M.;Zaccone C.
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2024-01-01
Abstract
Soil organic matter (SOM) plays a pivotal role in soil quality and fertility, affecting soil physical, chemical, and biological properties. In particular, SOM can effectively modulate drought resilience and crop productivity by improving water retention, aggregate stability and nutrient availability of soil. In this study, we propose a multidisciplinary approach for monitoring crop physiological responses to drought in order to identify resilient management practices. We combined drone-based multispectral remote sensing with measurements of soil properties (organic carbon -SOC-, total nitrogen -TN-, texture, pH, exchangeable bases, available phosphorus, pH, electrical conductivity) at two depths (0-15 and 15-30 cm) over multiple pilot farms and different crops (maize, sugar beet, asparagus) in the Veneto region (North of Italy). We aimed to identify the main soil physical and chemical properties correlated with a crop health index (SVI - Standardized Vegetation Index) during droughts. We quantified the spatial autocorrelation of crop health, and summarized the degree to which similar areas of high productivity tended to occur near each other over the study area, and how these clusters correlated with soil properties, including SOC content. The spatial variability analysis revealed an overall homogeneous response for plots submitted to severe and moderate drought, independently of the crop type. We identified plots in very good conditions, where SOC was linked to a more homogeneous variability of ‘healthy’ vegetation, and plots that, being poor in SOC, tended to result in hotspots of stress conditions in vegetation. Moreover, TN strongly and positively correlated with SOC in the plots showing healthy vegetation, suggesting its possible combined influence on drought resilience. This study highlights how SOM can strongly influence key parameters of crop productivity during droughts, emphasizing the importance of preserving or improving SOC content in agricultural soils to ensure a resilient and sustainable agriculture, especially in a climate change scenario.
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