Cotton is a C3 plant, which unlike C4 plants like sugarcane, means that vegetative growth as measured by NDVI is not a great indicator of yield. A balance between vegetative and reproductive growth structures in the cotton plant is essential to achieve high yields.

“In the case of cotton the co-efficient of variation of the NDVI values proves to be a more useful indicator of yield. “

There is potential to develop multi-spectral analysis that measures open cotton bolls. We’d love to partner with growers and research organisations to investigate this further. Our multi-spectral sensor technology is ideally suited.

“The CV-NDVI index provided a more accurate characterisation of crop yield changes between seasons than the absolute NDVI average value.” (Baio et al, 2018)

What this means for cotton growers is that regular measurements of NDVI and correlation with yield measured will provide a good predictor of yield for this year’s crop.

If you’d like us to help you establish this correlation for your farm. Get in touch.

Baio, Fábio & Neves, Danilo & Campos, Cid & Teodoro, Paulo. (2018). Relationship between cotton productivity and variability of NDVI obtained by landsat images. Bioscience Journal. 34. 197-205. 10.14393/BJ-v34n6a2018-39583.

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