Zonas homogêneas na validação de atributos biofísicos na cultura do sorgo granífero

Abstract

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is a crop that is easy to adapt to adverse soil and climate conditions and which in recent decades has shown significant growth in productivity. All this growth was made possible by the use of new technologies and a better use of natural resources. In this scenario, precision agriculture emerges as a tool focused on improving the production system, taking into account the spatial variability of the stands and the reduction of environmental impacts. The present work aimed to define homogeneous zones, based on soil attributes and the NDVI vegetation index, which allow the recognition of the difference in dry mass and productivity existing in a field cultivated with grain sorghum. The experiment was carried out at the Experimental Farm Capim Branco, belonging to the Federal University of Uberlândia, in an area covering 25 hectares, in a sampling grid with 50 points, with two points per hectare, the attributes studied to define the management zones were the texture of the soil, electrical conductivity, penetration resistance, altitude and NDVI. The definition of management zones was made from the interpolation of maps of these attributes. The software used were Google Earth, Excel and QGIS with the Smart Map Plugin. For the validation of the management zones obtained from the interpolation of the maps, the height of plants, panicle length, shoot weight without grains and productivity. The definition of homogeneous zones that allows differentiating the productive response potential of the stands is possible based on attributes such as altitude, sand, clay, electrical conductivity, penetration resistance and NDVI. It is possible to relate the response of sorghum biophysical attributes to the productive potential of the area from the definition of homogeneous zones.