To clarify the effect of soil type on changes in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) productivity since 1980 in Tokachi District (Hokkaido, Japan), we analyzed yield data from 121 settlements from 1980 to 2002 using maps of parent materials and surface organic matter contents in a geographical information system. The soil types were Brown Lowland soils, Andosols with an alluvial subsoil, Wet Andosols and Andosols. The sugar beet yields were highest in the Andosols and moderate in Andosols with an alluvial subsoil. Yields in Brown Lowland soils in the 1980s were similar to those in Andosols, but decreased below the yields in the Andosols by the 1990s. The yields in Wet Andosols were the lowest in the 1980s, but have been similar to those in Andosols with an alluvial subsoil since 1990. Thus, productivity appears to have varied over time in Brown Lowland soils and Wet Andosols. The correlation coefficients between yields and cumulative daily mean temperature from late April to mid-July since 1990 were highest in the Andosols (r = 0.67), lowest in the Brown Lowland soils (r = 0.50) and intermediate in the other soil types (r = 0.54-0.60). However, the magnitude of the correlation between the yield and the cumulative precipitation since 1990 was lowest in the Andosols (r = -0.22), highest in the Brown Lowland soils (r = -0.58) and intermediate in the other soil types (r = -0.44 to -0.45). These results suggest that the present soil water environment in the Andosols is superior to that in the other soil types.
This study was carried out for the following two purposes through analysis of satellite data and meteorological data. One is to assess the feasibility of developing an efficient cultivation support system for effective reduction of costs relating to sugar beet cultivation. The other is to predict the root yield before the harvesting season.The cumulative temperature, cumulative precipitation and cumulative solar radiation from the end of April to the middle of July were selected as the predictors of the root yield prediction formula. The predictive error was 3.8t/ha, that was a result calculated by the farmers group, after weighted to the predicted root yield using NDVI. The results suggest that it is possible to predict the root yield before three months of the harvesting season. For providing such results to sugar companies in much earlier before the harvesting, the efficiency of sugar beet collection and sugar production will increase substantially.
Although climatic conditions had hindered the introduction of Pinot Noir, a cultivar of wine grape (Vitis vinifera), to areas such as Yoichi and Sorachi, Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, the growing region of the cultivar has recently extended. We analyzed meteorological data to obtain the rationale for the successful cultivation of Pinot Noir in Hokkaido; climate shift since 1998 pointed by Kanno (2013), i.e., rise in summer temperature, facilitated cultivation of the variety. Today, Yoich and Sorachi have become the right locations for growing the cultivar, and it has also been grown in other areas. Indeed, the vintage chart in Tokachi indicated the consistent, good harvest of grape since 1998. There is negative correlation in the average monthly temperature between April and August, and positive correlation between August and September ever since the climate shift. We hypothesize the benefi ts of the climate shift in terms of wine production as follows: 1) in years with low April temperature and high summer temperature, the growth rate in early stage delays, but the temperature required for grape maturation is secured by high temperature in August and September; and 2) in years with warm April and subsequent cool summer, early growth start keeps the growing season long enough, which may have compensated the risk of poor grape maturation in cool summer. Thus, climate change is considered to have favored the cultivation of Pinot Noir in Hokkaido.
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