Vegetation Indices for Predicting the Growth and Harvest Rate of Lettuce

Ana Luisa Alves Ribeiro, Gabriel Mascarenhas Maciel (), Ana Carolina Silva Siquieroli, José Magno Queiroz Luz, Rodrigo Bezerra de Araujo Gallis, Pablo Henrique de Souza Assis, Hugo César Rodrigues Moreira Catão and Rickey Yoshio Yada
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Ana Luisa Alves Ribeiro: Postgraduate Program in Agronomy, Institute of Agrarian Sciences, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia 38410-337, Brazil
Gabriel Mascarenhas Maciel: Institute of Agrarian Sciences, Federal University of Uberlândia, Monte Carmelo 38500-000, Brazil
Ana Carolina Silva Siquieroli: Institute of Biotechnology, Federal University of Uberlândia, Monte Carmelo 38500-000, Brazil
José Magno Queiroz Luz: Institute of Agrarian Sciences, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia 38410-337, Brazil
Rodrigo Bezerra de Araujo Gallis: Institute of Geography, Federal University of Uberlândia, Monte Carmelo 38500-000, Brazil
Pablo Henrique de Souza Assis: Postgraduate Program in Agriculture and Geospatial Information, Institute of Agrarian Sciences, Federal University of Uberlândia, Monte Carmelo 38500-000, Brazil
Hugo César Rodrigues Moreira Catão: Institute of Agrarian Sciences, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia 38410-337, Brazil
Rickey Yoshio Yada: Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: Urbanization has provided greater demand for food, and the search for strategies capable of reducing waste is essential to ensure food security. Lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L.) culture has a short life cycle and its harvest point is determined visually, causing waste and important losses. Using vegetation indices could be an important alternative to reduce errors during harvest definition. The objective of this study was to evaluate different vegetation indices to predict the growth rate and harvest point of lettuce. Twenty-five genotypes of biofortified green lettuce were evaluated. The Green Leaf Index (GLI), Normalized Green Red Difference Index (NGRDI), Spectral Slope Saturation Index (SI), and Overall Hue Index (HUE) were calculated from images captured at 1, 8, 18, 24, and 36 days after transplanting (vegetative state). The diameter and average leaf area of plants were measured using QGIS software. Green mass, number of leaves, and plant and stem diameter were measured in the field. The means were compared using the Scott–Knott test ( p ≤ 0.05) and simple linear regression models were generated to monitor the growth rate, obtaining R 2 values ranging from 62% to 99%. Genetic dissimilarity was confirmed by the multivariate analysis presenting a cophenetic correlation coefficient of 88.49%. Furthermore, validation between data collected in the field versus data obtained by imaging was performed using Pearson’s correlations and showed moderate to high values. Overall, the vegetation indices SI, GLI, and NGRDI were efficient for monitoring the growth rate and determining the harvest point of different green lettuce genotypes, in attempts to reduce waste and losses. It is suggested that the definition of the harvest point based on vegetation indices are specific for each genotype.

Keywords: food safety; image phenotyping; Lactuca sativa L.; vegetables (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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