The use of weather data for crop production and protection

Abstract

Distribution uniformity of irrigation water and fertilizers, pests and diseases prediction, and planting dates are major problems in the different climatic regions in Egypt. The old land is characterized by uneven field surfaces, short furrows and small basins, deep percolation, water and fertilizer losses, soil profile heterogeneity, and other soil characteristics that all affect water and fertilizer distribution. Early planting is one of the options for summer cultivated crops in order to get the maximum economical yield at harvest. Early prediction of diseases and insects is important to help the farmers avoid heavy sprays of pesticides and take the necessary actions to avoid dangerous diseases. Proper management nowadays depends on accurate irrigation scheduling that reduces the cost of irrigation and minimizes problems related to the misuse of water. Early pest and disease forecasts and warnings allow suitable time for taking the necessary actions to avoid chemical sprays. Proper calculation of sowing dates ensures uniform plantation and reduces the cost of sowing seeds in several crops. These agromanagement practices require real time weather data covering the country. The Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate (CLAC) has established a system that covers more than 30 agrometeorological stations. Dissemination of information is one of the CLAC activities through different mass media facilities. Computer modeling is used to calculate water and fertilizer requirements, disease and insect predictions and planting dates. Disease and insect predictions are determined according to the agroclimatological data especially air temperature and soil moisture. The proper disease prediction is conducted by built-in software utilizing agroclimatic data for each region in Egypt. Growing degree days (GDD) are used for the prediction of diseases and insects. On the other hand, planting dates for different vegetable crops is determined according to the agrometeorological data, especially soil temperature at different depths. Research is being conducted to find the precise soil temperature required for each cultivar of different vegetable species. This is important for selecting the proper cultivation time and area - in the case of newly reclaimed lands - in order to achieve the best germination and escape the major diseases and/or pests.