ASABE Technical Library - Abstract

Abstract. Traditionally, wild blueberry growers apply fertilizer uniformly without considering the substantial variation in soil and plant characteristics, topographic features, and fruit yield. The occurrence of heavy rainfall events, gentle to severe topography along with high proportion of bare spots, and weed patches emphasize the need of variable rate split (VRS) fertilization. Two commercial wild blueberry fields were selected in central Nova Scotia to evaluate the impact of VRS fertilization on plant growth and crop productivity. The fields were divided into three sections (VRS section, uniform rate split (URS) section, and uniform rate (UR) section). The global positioning system (GPS) guided prescription maps for fertilization were generated in ArcGIS 10.1 software. Fertilization was performed by following the GPS guided prescription map. Soil samples, plant growth parameters, and fruit yield samples were collected from selected points during the vegetative years of each field. Plant density and plant height were non-significantly different under all slope zones of VRS, URS, and UR treatment sections. Although there were non-significant differences for fruit yield in all slope zones of VRS, URS, and UR fertilizer treatments, the mean fruit yield was higher in VRS section as compared to the other sections. Significant correlations were observed between soil properties and plant growth parameters under all treatment sections (VRS, URS, and UR section). The VRS fertilization saved 39% and 42% fertilizer in Cooper and North River fields, respectively. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that VRS fertilization could reduce fertilizer usage and improve crop productivity.