A Relationship between Individual Plant-spacing and Yield

Abstract

A method is presented for describing the arrangement of plants in an irregularly spaced row crop by allocating a polygonal area of ground to each plant. Three parameters are used to define the area and shape of the polygon, and the position of the plant within its polygon. The relationship between these parameters and plant yield in carrots is investigated and found to be consistent over different treatments and harvest dates. The proportion of the total variation in plant yield which is attributable to polygon variation within a plot rises as the harvest date becomes later, the largest mean proportion at a final harvest being 20 per cent.