Offered Papers Theme C: Delivering the Benefits from Grassland
Description
A practice common to pasture research is the assessment of green leaf. In Australia, where the water use of plants is becoming an increasingly important issue due largely to its implications for dryland salinity, it is imperative that accurate and repeatable methods for characterising the amount of green leaf in pastures be used. The assessment of green leaf has been approached in many ways in the past with varying degrees of success and accuracy. The most accurate way is to physically harvest an area of pasture and separate the green component to make the relevant measurements. For many situations, this may not be suitable particularly due to the destructive, laborious nature of the activity. Many techniques have been tried but they vary in such areas as accuracy, the quantitative nature of the output, repeatability, destructiveness, complexity and labour and equipment expenses ('t Mannetje 2000). The project aim was to determine if digitally derived green cover measurements could act as a remote substitute for percentage green biomass in pastures.
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
The Use of Digital Imagery for the Assessment of Green Biomass in Native Pastures
A practice common to pasture research is the assessment of green leaf. In Australia, where the water use of plants is becoming an increasingly important issue due largely to its implications for dryland salinity, it is imperative that accurate and repeatable methods for characterising the amount of green leaf in pastures be used. The assessment of green leaf has been approached in many ways in the past with varying degrees of success and accuracy. The most accurate way is to physically harvest an area of pasture and separate the green component to make the relevant measurements. For many situations, this may not be suitable particularly due to the destructive, laborious nature of the activity. Many techniques have been tried but they vary in such areas as accuracy, the quantitative nature of the output, repeatability, destructiveness, complexity and labour and equipment expenses ('t Mannetje 2000). The project aim was to determine if digitally derived green cover measurements could act as a remote substitute for percentage green biomass in pastures.
