Wide-area Analysis of Relation between Buckwheat Yield and Each Wet Damage Factor in Ugo Town

Abstract

Recently, buckwheat has started gaining focus as a novel item. However, buckwheat is susceptible to excess soil moisture stress and severe yield decrease in wet fields. Therefore, agricultural production corporations, cultivation farmers, and people concerned with buckwheat municipal cultivation require information regarding wet damage factors affecting buckwheat yield. Herein, the spatial distribution of buckwheat yield in Ugo, Akita Prefecture, was established. Further, we statistically analyzed the relation between buckwheat yield and wet damage factors, i.e., topography, soil, drainage channel and drainage pump maintenance, and underdrainage function. Results showed that buckwheat is cultivated where there is a high risk of wet damage, such as damp land, and underdrainage makes a low risk of wet damage on the low-level ground. Therefore, in Ugo town, the information on topography, drainage channel and drainage pump maintenance, and subsurface drainage function helps estimate the wet damage risk.