Sofia Charouli

Precision Agriculture is an agricultural management strategy that aims to increase farmers’ profit, maximize crop productivity and sustainability, and protect the environment by applying inputs in optimum rates based on plant needs. The delineation of site-specific management zones is a crucial step at the application of Precision Agriculture. However, the procedure of delineating management zones for pest management is difficult since pest populations are dynamic and change spatially and temporally throughout a growing season. The objectives of this work is to study kiwi canopy characteristics, to correlate them with Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) populations and delineate management zones for pesticide applications in variable rates. To achieve this, four kiwi orchards in total were selected in the regions of Pieria and Imathia in Greece. Τen traps were installed from early May to late October within each selected kiwi orchard: two types of traps at every side of the orchards and the center. The installed traps were examined weekly, and the number of the captured H. halys was recorded. During the same days, sentinel satellite images were analyzed to calculate the indices: NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and NDWI (Normalized Difference Water Index). The collected data were combined in a GIS software to delineate management zones using a K means algorithm and unsupervised classification. The results of this three-year study showed population variability within the kiwi orchards since the population of H. halys was higher in field regions where NDVI and NDWI values were high. The delineation of management zones revealed that there are spatio-temporal stable zones in each field where there is high, medium, and low risk to develop H. halys populations. The benefits of the proposed strategy are multiple since it is expected that farmers will be able to reduce the production expenses of kiwifruits and environmental protection while increasing profit.