C2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 10,1982 Outer space brings measures for soil moisture BELTSVILLE, Md - A new moisture meter can “see” soil moisture as deep as six inches below the surface of the earth, according to Thomas J. Jackson, a hydrologist at USDA’s Beltsvdle Agricultural Research Center. Information about the soil’s water content could permit far mers to manage irrigation to best advantage, Jackson says. This means that farmers could, depending on their situation, plan to save water, save energy, or increase crop yields, he said. Currently irrigation is planned ATLANTA, Ga. A new early generation testing method, which enables soybean breeders to identify potential new varieties in half the time required by' traditional techniques as described recently by a nudwestem soybean breeder for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Richard L. Cooper, USDA-ARS scientist and professor in the Department of Agronomy at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, reviewed early generation testing (EGT) durmg-sessions of the 1981 annual meeting of the American Society of Agronomy. Cooper started using EGT is his crossing and selection program more than a decade ago. While some soybean breeders question the reliability of the speed-up selection. Cooper had half a dozen new varieties released in as many years to back his conviction that EGT is faster and just as effective. The Ohio scientist said the two traditional breeding methods used with soybeans are standard pedigree selection and single seed descent. In the older pedigree selection method, a breeder made an initial cross of parent lines then depended on visual estimates of yield in early generations to determine which plants to keep in his selection program. Actual yield date weren’t available until 5 years after the cross was made (F g generation). The single seed descent method, coupling greenhouse plots with field plots, permits sampling more potential Imes, but still means' almost 4 years elapse before the breeder gets actual yield data on a promising line. Cooper’s EGT method, which has resulted in his development and release of five new semidwarf soybeans (Elf, Gnome, Puue, Sprite, and Hobbit) and one in determinate variety, Amcor (for production in marginally t 6030 Jonestown Rd. association of= HsnMwg to 17112 SPECtALiSIS n?-s4s«ji mgrcwrawo interstate *lE«it»6 Oiaici ftMi briftdmond iVv. vocMflr wwipo? wnQ 4PWIMP wfth over 25 yor* in business. AuthorixMl S«l* A S»rvlc» For • American Bosch • Robert Bosch • Roosa Master • Airesearch W« Also Sorvlco: • IHC • Caterpillar • Cummins • General Motors injectors • Allis Chalmers • Blowers, governors etc • Bacharach Tools Daily Shipments by UPS, Parcel Post, or our representative who is in area regularly by visual observations, computer Agricultural Research Center, sou models and by measurements with moisture is measured with a a water-detecting probe. But the microwave detector that is similar extensive sampling needed to give ( to a radar dish or disc mounted reliable information is costly and ' high above a truck, reported time-consuming, Jackson noted. Jackson in a recent international Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. Co-authors were Thomas J. Schmugge and James R. Wang of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA developed the equipment for this project. Scientists of the Hydrology Laboratory, part of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, are evaluating the equipment. The truck exncnments are part “Our goal is a remote water detecting system that could provide daily soil moisture measurements for individual farms over large areas,” said Jackson, This would be a source of very accurate information for irrigation management and other agricultural uses. Now, at the Beltsville New technique aids soybean development productive tieldsj, lets him begin yield testing the F 3 generation, or only 2 years after his initial cross. This means he’s likely to be wasting tune growing crosses with low yield potential. Instead, he can devote his full attention to more promising crosses based on actual yield measurements. With the EGT method, Cooper evaluates yield potential in the F 3 and F generations of his cross. Then, the following year he takes the most promising crosses based on yields and pulls single plants for future testing as pure lines. So, by the time the new line is in the F 5 and subsequent generations, Cooper is relatively certain he has pure lines significantly better than the parents with the genetic traits he originally set out to combine in his initial cross. MILLER DIESEL INC. • CAV • Simms • RotoMaster • Schwitzer Cooper’s faith in his early generation testing has been sub stantiated by yield data from commercial farmers who have grown his Elf and Gnome varieties and by producers of both Registered and Certified class seed of two of his newer semi-dwarfs. Sprite and Pixie. Cooper admitted that while “it’s a game of probabilities,” his EGT method has worked effectively in Ohio’s cooperative state-federal soybean breeding program. Some private breeders have started using EGT, but it still is not widely used. 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(Such comparative tests are called ground-truthmg.) Along with the microwave detector, other types of meters are used to provide valuable in formation to fanners. Visible and near-infrared detectors measure the amount of plant material, or biomass, to indicate the stage of points to the five semidwarf varieties. “I used this system to pick two superior yielding F,- denved lines in the F generation which originated from a cross of Williams by Ransom. These two lines ranked first and second in yield in a test containing 100 F - derived lines representing 34 crosses,” Cooper explained. By the time he harvested the F„ generation, he was certain he haa something 1 All five of his high-yielding determinate senudwarf varieties each with different gene com binations representing a maturity range of 2 weeks can be traced back to the two he selected on the basis of early generation testing. Reliable! \l | fon «*»*«• ASK FOR DETAILS! development of the crops and help estimate yields. Thermal infrared detectors measure the tem perature of the vegetation; this can be used as an indicator of plant stress from water shortages or other cauies. Microwave sensing for determination of sod moisture is currently used by the Soviets for irrigation management, Jackson said. Three aircraft monitor a 250,000-acre area in the USSR on a weekly basis. Their system was tested both in 1977 and 1978, and was found to be economically feasible. It has been in regular use since 1979, according to Jackson. The moisture-sensing project of the Agricultural Research Service is part of a larger project called AgRISTARS (Agricultural Resource Inventory Survey Through Aerospace Remote Sensing), which involves cooperation between USDA and NASA, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad ministration,' the Department of the Interior, and the Agency for International Development. Other projects of AgRISTARS are related to detecting crop stress, estimating crop production in the U.S. and foreign countries, determining land use practices and effects of pollution on fresh water environments. The Army Corps ot Engineers plans to use the soil moisture in formation obtained by the moisture merer to help forecast floods. The Soil Conservation Service also is interested in this quantitative data for preparation of its weekly drought map of the United States, which is now based mostly on qualitative information. Vs! ?i £ i Reliable! FORD CERTIFIED MECHANIC ON DUTY //I. Dea/gr\\ I [ V ertifted \ \ 1 I fifechanrc j j \\ Program J j This emblem in our dealership attests that our mechanics have successfully undertaken special service training by Ford Tractor in various areas of mechanical and hydraulic operations and repair ' .y' Replacement Paris Guaranteed 90 Days from installation in our shop I < >. ' \
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