PERSPECTIVES ON PRECISION FARMING OF TREE CROPS: ESTIMATING YIELDS AND DESIGNING INTERVENTIONS

The ability to map yield in an orchard at a scale as small as a single tree and to use that information to optimize inputs would revolutionize tree crop production and directly contribute to improved resource use efficiency, increased efficiency and reduced costs. The determination of individual tree yield has great utility not only in optimizing orchard management but will greatly enhance our ability to conduct in-field research, will enhance our ability to determine the basis for yield variation in tree crops and will contribute to an understanding of the ecology of yield variation in natural forests. Whereas in many broad acre crops, profitability issues have constrained adoption of precision agriculture, in horticultural crops it is the lack of technology that is the primary constraint. Here we discuss our experience with precision agriculture as applied to pistachio to highlight the challenges and benefits of this new technology.