Vulnerability of Wheat Crops to Flooding Outweighs Benefits from Precision Farming and Agroecology Practices: A Case Study in Central Italy

Enrico Santangelo, Claudio Beni, Loredana Oreti (), Adriano Palma and Marco Bascietto
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Enrico Santangelo: Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e L’analisi Dell’economia Agraria (CREA), Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, Via Della Pascolare 16, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy
Claudio Beni: Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e L’analisi Dell’economia Agraria (CREA), Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, Via Della Pascolare 16, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy
Loredana Oreti: Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e L’analisi Dell’economia Agraria (CREA), Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, Via Della Pascolare 16, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy
Adriano Palma: Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e L’analisi Dell’economia Agraria (CREA), Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, Via Della Pascolare 16, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy
Marco Bascietto: Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e L’analisi Dell’economia Agraria (CREA), Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, Via Della Pascolare 16, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: This study aimed at testing whether the integration of precision farming (PF) and agroecological practices could influence wheat yield in the short term on soils exposed to varying degrees of risk from flooding. The study embraced two years (2018–2019 and 2020–2021) of wheat cultivation in Central Italy. A two-way factorial grid with agronomic practice (two levels: agroecology vs. conventional on-farm management) and soil vulnerability to flooding (three levels: extreme, mild, non-vulnerable) as factors was set up. The agroecology level included a number of agroecology practices (rotation, use of nitrogen-fixing crops, mulching, and reduction in chemical fertilization). Crop phenology and photosynthetic activity of wheat was monitored by remotely-sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Grain yield was estimated at twenty sampling points at the end of year 2. A flooding event occurred during year 2, which led to significantly lower photosynthetic activity compared to year 1 in extremely vulnerable plots regardless of agronomic practices. Grain yield measurements confirmed that vulnerability was the sole factor significantly affecting yield. The study concludes that food security on vulnerable land can be guaranteed only when precision farming and agroecological practices are coupled with water management techniques that strengthen the resilience of vulnerable soils to floods.

Keywords: precision farming; agroecology; remote sensing; vegetation index; fertilization; nitrogen (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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