A Database Schema for Standardized Data and Metadata Collection in Agricultural Experiments

Ioanna S. Panagea, Anuja Dangol, Marc Olijslagers, Jan Diels and Guido Wyseure ()
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Ioanna S. Panagea: Plant Sciences Unit, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), 9820 Merelbeke-Melle, Belgium
Anuja Dangol: Spatial Application Division-SADL, KU Leuven, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Marc Olijslagers: Spatial Application Division-SADL, KU Leuven, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Jan Diels: Division of Soil and Water Management, KU Leuven, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Guido Wyseure: Division of Soil and Water Management, KU Leuven, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-10

Abstract: In large-scale, multi-national research projects on agricultural cropping systems such as SoilCare (Horizon 2020), ensuring consistency, comparability, and timely reporting of the (meta)data of the agricultural experiments across diverse partners has been a persistent challenge. To address these concerns, the SoilCare project developed a comprehensive data management system centered around a standardized template for the collection, organization, and sharing of experimental data and metadata from cropping systems. This template, designed to support harmonized sharing, analysis, and documentation through a common structure and terminology, meets the interdisciplinary requirements of modern agricultural research. Experimental data and metadata were structured into five core pools: 1. basic information, 2. field information, 3. experimental setup, 4. agricultural management data and 5. measured data/results. The Excel-based template was carefully structured to support integration into a relational database, enabling robust monitoring, analysis, and traceability of experimental processes and outcomes. The database schema and template, together with the (meta)data collected using this system during the SoilCare projects, were made openly available via Zenodo. The standardized approach ultimately enabled unified analyses and harmonized reporting across all experimental sites, demonstrating the system’s effectiveness in facilitating collaborative agricultural research at scale.

Keywords: database schema; cropping systems; agricultural experiments; SoilCare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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