Method and system for crop management

Abstract

A method of managing treatment of crop is disclosed. The method comprises: monitoring a first parameter describing a daily shrinkage of a plant part of the crop, and a second parameter describing daily growth rate of a plant part of the crop. The method further comprises calculating a plant status function based on a value of the first parameter and a value of the second parameter, and operating a crop treatment system responsively to the plant status function.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of characterizing a status of a plant, the method comprising:
 receiving over a communication network a first parameter which comprises a daily shrinkage of a fruit size of the plant, and a second parameter describing daily growth of said fruit size, and storing said parameters in a computer readable memory;   operating a data processor for calculating a plant status function based on a value of said first parameter and a value of said second parameter, for transmitting said plant status function to a non-transitory computer readable medium or a display device; and   transmitting a signal to one or more cellular telephones to issue an alert when the value of plant status function is below a predetermined threshold.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said plant status function is a linear function of said first and said second parameters. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein for at least one of said parameters, a coefficient of said parameter within said linear function is proportional to a variation of said parameter. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein for at least one of said parameters, a coefficient of said parameter within said linear function is a ratio between a variation of said parameter and a sum of variations of said first and said second parameter. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said calculating said plant status function comprises normalizing said first and said second parameters using values extracted from data received from fruits of said crop, wherein said plant status function is a function of said normalized parameters. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising calculating a plant stress score based on said plant status function and on history values of said plant status function. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising comparing said calculated plant status function to a plant status baseline, wherein said operating said crop treatment system is responsively to said comparison. 
     
     
         8 . The method of according to  claim 1 , wherein said plant status function is specific to a genus of the crop. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said plant status function is specific to a species of the crop. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said plant status function is specific to an age of the crop. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said plant status function is specific to a stage in a growth cycle of the crop. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising receiving history data pertaining to a status of the crop, and updating said plant status function based in part on said history data. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising predicting an estimate of a fruit maturity time of said crop based on said plant status function. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 6 , further comprising predicting an estimate of a fruit maturity time of said crop based on said plant stress score. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising receiving from a geographic information system geographic data pertaining to a field containing the crop, and providing, based on said geographic data and said plant status function of said plant part, an estimated plant status value corresponding to a plant of the crop which said daily shrinkage and said daily growth are unknown. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising receiving from a geographic information system geographic data pertaining to a field containing the crop, selecting, based on said geographic data, a plurality of plants at different locations over said field, and repeating said monitoring, and said calculation of said plant status function for each selected plants. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , further comprising providing, based on said geographic data and said calculated plant status function, an estimated plant status value corresponding to a plant for which said daily shrinkage and said daily growth are unknown. 
     
     
         18 . A computer software product, comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium in which program instructions are stored, which instructions, when read by a data processor, cause the data processor to execute the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         19 . A method of managing treatment of crop, comprising:
 monitoring a first parameter which comprises a daily shrinkage of fruit size of the crop, and a second parameter describing daily growth of said of fruit size;   calculating a plant status function based on a value of said first parameter and a value of said second parameter; and   operating a crop treatment system responsively to said plant status function.   
     
     
         20 . A system for managing treatment of crop, comprising:
 a sensor system deployed and configured for measuring and transmitting over a communication network data pertaining to a first parameter which comprises a daily shrinkage of a fruit size of the crop, and a second parameter describing daily growth of said fruit size; and   a data processor configured for receiving said data from said sensor system, storing said data in a computer readable memory, extracting said parameters from said data, calculating a plant status function based on a value of said parameters, and transmitting a signal to one or more cellular telephones to issue an alert when the value of plant status function is below a predetermined threshold.