Prediction Models of Corn Yield by NDVI in Function of the Spacing Arrangement

Abstract

There is a need for the use of tools to estimate productive potential during corn crop development. Thus, the assistence by means of active optical sensors for the generating of vegetation indexes can provide significant information for the knowledge of the behavior and temporal relation of this index with productive parameters of the agricultural crops. It was aimed to evaluate the temporal behavior of NDVI and its relation with yield of corn in order to generate yield prediction models in plant populations (55, 60 and 65 thousand plants ha-1) in spacing of conventional seeding and twin rows. A factorial 2 × 3 was utilized with four replicates, with a total of 24 experimental plots of 10 m2 in randomized blocks, performing reading NDVI at 5 seasons (30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 days after emergence of the plants DAE). The spacing in twin rows at 30 and 90 DAE for populations of 55 and 60 thousand plants ha-1, respectively, allowed to generate models for the prediction of productivity based on corn NDVI, while the population of 65 thousand plants ha-1 at 45 and 60 DAE there was no adjustment by the prediction model of yield by values close to NDVI for different productivities. In the conventional spacing generating models for the prediction of yield was possible in the populations of 55 and 60 thousand plants ha-1 respectively at 30 and 90 DAE.