Eﬃciency in sugar beet cultivation related to ﬁeld history

Autor/in: Trimpler, K., N. Stockfisch, B. Märländer
Jahr: 2017
Zeitschrift: European Journal of Agronomy 91
Seite/n: 1-9

Gefunden in Projekt Betriebsbefragung zur Produktionstechnik im Zuckerrübenanbau / Abteilung Systemanalyse

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Abstract

The concept of sustainable intensiﬁcation in crop production has become more and more important over the last years. Calls for an eﬃcient production demand an increase in yield without extending the agricultural area or increasing the amount of agricultural inputs. Thus, our study aimed to identify which variables inﬂuence the eﬃciency in crop cultivation in Central Europe and how we can explain the variances between ﬁelds. The data base for the present study was a survey among sugar beet farmers in all parts of Germany in the years 2010–2014. In order to structure the ﬁelds, variables representing environment, management and farm char- acteristics were extracted. The performed analysis according to components (principal component analysis) did not result in a nationwide structure of the data. Thus, ﬁelds were grouped according to similar preconditions such as regions and crop rotations. Sugar yield ranged from 12.5 t ha−1 in 2010 to 15.4 t ha−1 in 2014 on nationwide average. The median value for N fertilization over all ﬁelds and years was 137.4 kg ha−1, the median treatment index (TI) reached 3.7, the median ﬁeld evaluation index (Ackerzahl) was 70 and the median ﬁeld size 8 ha. We found that over 50% of the variance among the data was explained by environment, management and farm characteristics. The comparison of ﬁelds on a regional basis was more sensible than on a nationwide basis as the variance of farms and ﬁelds was too broad for a useful clustering. It was concluded that the adaption of the farmer’s management to regional speciﬁc conditions is an opportunity to reduce yield gaps and to increase eﬃciency in terms of a sustainable intensiﬁcation in sugar beet production.

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