Most references to plant growth regulators (PGR) used in cotton refer to isopropyl chloride (MC), which is a trademark registered with the EPA by BASF in 1980 under the trade name Pix. Mepiquat and related products are almost exclusively the PGR used in cotton, and due to its long history, Pix is ​​the conventionally mentioned term for discussing the application of PGR in cotton.
Cotton is one of the most important crops in the United States and a major product in the fashion, personal care and beauty industries, to name a few. Once cotton is harvested, there is almost no waste, which makes cotton a very attractive and beneficial crop.
Cotton has been cultivated for more than five thousand years, and until recently, modern farming methods have replaced manual picking and horse farming. Advanced machinery and other technological advancements (such as precision agriculture) enable farmers to grow and harvest cotton more efficiently.
Mast Farms LLC is a family-owned multi-generation farm that grows cotton in eastern Mississippi. Cotton plants tend to perform well in deep, well-drained, fertile sandy loam soils with a pH between 5.5 and 7.5. Most row crops in Mississippi (cotton, corn, and soybeans) occur in relatively flat and deep alluvial soils in the delta, which is conducive to mechanized agriculture.
Technical advances in genetically modified cotton varieties have made cotton management and production easier, and these advances are still an important reason for the continuous increase in yields. Changing cotton growth has become an important part of cotton production, because if managed properly, it can affect yields.
The key to regulating growth is to know what the plant needs at each stage of development to achieve the ultimate goal of higher yield and quality. The next step is to do everything possible to meet these needs. Plant growth regulators can promote early maturity of crops, maintain square and boll, increase nutrient absorption, and coordinate nutrition and reproductive growth, thereby increasing the yield and quality of lint.
The number of synthetic plant growth regulators available to cotton growers is increasing. Pix is ​​the most widely used material due to its ability to reduce cotton overgrowth and emphasize boll development.
In order to know exactly when and where to apply Pix to their cotton fields, the Mast Farms team drove an AeroVironment Quantix Mapper drone to collect timely and accurate data. Lowell Mullet, Membership Manager of Mast Farms LLC, said: “This is much cheaper than using fixed-wing images, but it allows us to get the job done in the fastest way.
After capturing the image, the Mast Farm team used Pix4Dfields to process it to generate an NDVI map and then create a zone map.
Lowell said: “This particular area covers 517 acres. From the beginning of the flight to when I can prescribe in the sprayer, it takes about two hours, depending on the size of the pixels during processing.” “I am on 517 acres of land. 20.4 Gb of data was collected on the Internet, and it took about 45 minutes to process.”
In many studies, it has been found that NDVI is a consistent indicator of leaf area index and plant biomass. Therefore, NDVI or other indices can be an ideal tool to classify plant growth variability throughout the field.
Using the NDVI generated in Pix4Dfields, the mast farm can use the zoning tool in Pix4Dfields to classify the higher and lower areas of vegetation. The tool divides the field into three different vegetation levels. Screen the area of ​​the area to determine the height to node ratio (HNR). This is an important step in determining the PGR rate used in each area.
Finally, use the partition tool to create a prescription. According to HNR, the rate is allocated to each vegetation area. Hagie STS 16 is equipped with Raven Sidekick, so Pix can be directly injected into the boom during spraying. Therefore, the injection system rates assigned to each zone are 8, 12, and 16 oz/acre respectively. To complete the prescription, export the file and load it into the sprayer monitor for use.
Mast Farms uses Quantix Mapper, Pix4Dfields and STS 16 sprayers to quickly and effectively apply Pix to cotton fields.