A synoptic approach for crop loss assessment used to study wheat. IV. The description of cultural practices and the combination of cultural data with soil data

Abstract

From an initial set of 13 measurements taken to define previous land use and the cultural practices adopted by farmers on Yorke Peninsula, S.A., an alternative set of eight variables was derived. The reduced number of variables retained almost all of the information present in the original set and were close to being statistically independent. This simplification is desirable for the later study, when these variables will be considered for inclusion in regression models to predict the growth and yield of wheat. A weak association between these variables and the soil variables specified in Paer III indicated that farmers were not strongly influenced by soil type and properties when deciding which cultural practices to adopt.