Estimation of Photosynthesis and Fruit Load of Strawberry

Abstract

We investigated a method to estimate the amount of photosynthesis and fruit load of strawberries. The amount of photosynthesis was expressed as dry matter production, which was calculated by multiplication of light use efficiency and intercepted light. The total amount of light received was estimated using Kinect, which can be easily and temporally measured in the field for the same plants. The fruit load was expressed by the increase in fruit dry matter, and was estimated using the fruit enlargement curve created in this study. The estimated changes in dry matter production fluctuated depending on the direct light receiving leaf area measured by Kinect, the amount of solar radiation, and light use efficiency. The change in the amount of increase in fruit dry matter was markedly influenced by the fruit set condition of the fruit cluster. By comparing these values, we considered the time when the plants were enriched or exhausted. In order to verify the validity of the estimation, comparing the ratio of increase in fruit dry matter in dry matter production, the value of actual measurement remained higher than that estimated, but the trend was similar. In the future, it will be necessary to collect and verify survey data, and it was suggested that photosynthesis and fruit load can be estimated using the proposed method. Furthermore, it was shown that the value obtained by subtracting the fruit load from photosynthesis could be used as an index indicating the enrichment or exhaustion of plants.