Impact of Variable Rate Technology Adoption on Cotton Yield in Texas

Impact of variable rate technology adoption on cotton yield in Texas

Uniform input application in the farm may not be the optimal strategy in farms with considerable within-field variability in soil characteristics and crop conditions. Variable Rate Technology (VRT) takes the within-field variability into consideration and aims to match resource application to field conditions and crop requirement. However, since VRT  is a response to the extent of within-field variability of a specific field, the yield advantage from adopting this technology differs from field to field. Hence, the yield advantage of adopting VRT is very difficult to estimate using field trials. Even though Texas is the most important cotton producing state in the US, the rate of VRT adoption is very low here. Providing a regional estimate of the impact of VRT adoption on cotton yield is very important to boost adoption rates in Texas. This study used the 2013 Southern Cotton Precision Farming Survey to empirically estimate the impact of adoption of VRT on cotton yield in Texas. A two-stage least square procedure with a logistic regression model in the first stage and a multiple linear regression model in the second stage was used to estimate the yield improvement from VRT adoption in Texas.