Unmanned-Aerial-Vehicle Data as an Effective Tool for the Evaluation of Ancient Khorasan and Modern Kabot Spring Wheat Varieties under Different Tillage Systems

Abstract

With the changing climate, there is an increasing emphasis on drought-resistant varieties, including the ability to maintain quality production. As there is also interest in ancient wheat varieties, the aim of this study was to evaluate the growth parameters of the ancient Khorasan (Kamut®) and modern Kabot spring wheat varieties using remote sensing data. Images from unmanned aerial vehicles during four growing seasons were processed. Based on vegetation indices, the growth of these varieties and their response to meteorological conditions were evaluated, as well as the ability to resist drought and higher temperatures with respect to specific soil conditions under conventional (CT), minimum (MTC), and minimization (MTD) tillage systems. It was found that Khorasan had the lowest values of the vegetation indices on the CT variant in the dry years 2022 and 2023. On the contrary, in the previous wet years, 2020 and 2021, both varieties showed similar results. Regarding water stress, the CT variant was also the least suitable for ancient Khorasan (average Crop Water Stress Index = CWSI = 0.38). On the contrary, this variant seems to be suitable for the modern Kabot variety (CWSI = 0.29), while no significant difference between tillage variants was found for this variety. In general, water stress was easily detectable from the observed parameters in the growth phase of stem elongation (R2 up to 0.88). Regarding the individual methods of tillage and water stress, the ancient variety Khorasan performed the worst with the CT variant. MTD appeared to be the best tillage method for Khorasan cultivation in terms of water management.