Macadamia Growers Optimize Irrigation with Thermal Imaging
Macadamia orchards in South Africa use Aerobotics’ high-resolution thermal imagery to measure tree-level transpiration and identify irrigation variability. By correlating canopy temperature, soil moisture, and nut size, growers can fine-tune irrigation strategies to optimize yield and orchard health.
Crop type: Macadamia
Location: Queensland, Australia
Investigating correlations between transpiration variation and nut size
As part of the Hinkler AgTech Initiative, CQUniversity research officer Karli Groves helped connect farmers with agtech companies. Specifically, CQUniversity and Aerobotics conducted a study to determine the effect of transpiration (high vs low) on macadamia nut size.
The Challenge
Macadamias have shallow root systems and are particularly sensitive to overwatering. However, not enough water and your nut size will also be impacted. Soil moisture can vary intensely in an orchard and without multiple soil probes, it is not always possible to detect these areas of variance as the blocks can look even to the naked eye.
The Solution
Aerobotics thermal imaging measures the transpiration of each individual tree of the orchard. The high-resolution imagery means that the temperature of the tree canopy is isolated from the rest of the orchard (cover crops, soil etc.) which allows agronomists and growers to link transpiration directly to the yield of an individual tree.
Two sample locations were tagged in each block, one in high transpiration zones and one in low transpiration zones. Five to ten trees were sampled at each location with soil moisture analyses being performed at every tree. Fifty representative nuts were sized at every tree.
