Delineation of Site-Specific Management Zones to Enhance Nutrient Status, Growth, and Quality of Green Onion (Allium cepa L.) in a Newly Reclaimed Area in Ismailia, Egypt

Abdelraouf M Ali ^1,2* Noha Morsy ¹ Nazih Yacer Rebouh ² Dmitry E Kucher ² Hassan Hassan ³ Emad Abdelhameed Abdeldaym ³ M Jalhoum ¹ Mohamed Aboelghar ¹ Abdelaziz Belal ¹

• ¹ National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, Cairo, Egypt
• ² Institute of Environmental Engineering, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Moscow Oblast, Russia
• ³ Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Oula, Giza, Egypt

Precision farming is an agricultural management practice with the potential to address various challenges by observing and measuring field crop variability using accurate and timely infor-mation about agricultural resources. One of the most vital pillars of precision Farming is the use of site-specific management zones. This new technology improves agriculture management practices by varying agricultural treatments according to the specific conditions of different production zones within a field, thereby protecting resources, defending the environment, and enhancing crop productivity and quality. The research aimed to study applied magnesium fertilizer in the Site-specific management zones SSMZs for Alium cep., contrasting with traditional methods based on soil and plant properties. To achieve this, a 10-meter grid-sampling scheme was implemented in the field, comprising 12 points where soil samples were collected from the top 20 cm before green onion planting in June 2021. Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NDVI) data during the harvest stage of the green onion growth cycle were derived from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at each sample point location. Yield mapping was conducted at harvest. Through stepwise multiple analyses, key yield-limiting factors were identified, including soil properties (such as organic matter), and canopy parameters (including bulb diameter, phosphorus, magnesium, and NDVI). Overlay maps of soil parameters, growth/biochemical plant measurements, and assessments of actual and potential land suitability for green onion revealed three distinct SSMZs—zone, zone, zone were 1.97 ha, 1.35 ha, and 2.79 ha respectively. The effect of magnesium oxide nanoparticles (nMgO) in site-specific management zone with area achieved high green onion yield 152.14 ton/ha. The soil properties and plant characteristics assessed in this study indicated that foliar applications of (nMgO) significantly improved green onion's nutritional status, growth, and quality (Al-lium cepa L.). The modeling process succeeded in classifying the study area into three management zones for soil treatments and three other management zones for plant treatments. Applying such a process will minimize the cost of soil analysis, and food security thus improving the total agricultural income.