Development of variable rate agicultural input application program for orchards

In this research; a computer program that can make variable rate applications was developed to increase yield and quality with optimum input use in orchards. The developed application map program prepares application map according to the land, crop and agricultural input information and makes its application by using instant GPS data in the orchard. The program was developed on Visual Studio 2015 and .NET 4.5 Framework architecture by using Microsoft Visual Basic programming language and jSon data standard. The developed program was tested in the laboratory and in the field. Field tests were carried out with a machine that can apply multiple fertilizers at the same time in cherry orchards. Variable rate fertilizer application maps were prepared and applied for commercial fertilizers containing nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Fertilizer application norms ranged from 1488 g/tree to 2083 g/tree for nitrogen fertilizers and from 893 g/tree to 1190 g/tree for phosphorus fertilizers. The total time spent on fertilization for each tree was detemined 4.14 s and the average speed of the machine was 1.13 m/s. It was recorded whether the command was executed or not during variable rate fertilization. It was observed that the program made and saved the application norm according to the fertilizer application map at the desired position. Since the structure of the tree varied, it was determined that the machine went out of the virtual polygons during tractor maneuvers and the problem was solved by correcting the coordinate information. Improvements were suggested for the software to work by receiving data from sensors and to allow operator intervention. It was found that the developed system was successfully used for variable rate application of solid mineral fertilizers in different fruits (olive, cherry, sour cherry, citrus fruits, etc.).