2013 Volume 21 Issue 3 Pages 24-30
In a series of agricultural experiments using quality engineering that started in 2008, field-grown sweet potatoes were studied for two years and greenhouse-grown shiitake mushrooms were studied for one year, but the produce was evaluated only at harvest and not while growing. In the present study, corn was cultivated in planter boxes in the early stage of growth (from seeds to seedlings) and then transplanted to ridges in a field under conditions set according to an L18 orthogonal array. Growth data such as height of seedlings and size of sprouts were measured in the field, and the MT system was used to diagnose the harvested corn by analyzing noise factors, control factors, and growth data during cultivation, using the number of kernels as the characteristic value. In addition, the cultivation conditions were optimized through parameter design. From the MT analysis and parameter design, while elucidating the optimal cultivation conditions it was possible to discover, to some extent, what parts of the plants to observe and when to observe them in deciding whether to thin the plants out or cultivate them intensively. It is expected that this evaluation method, using both the MT system and parameter design, will contribute greatly to the improvement of agricultural cultivation techniques.
