Using PECO vs AGRO for field experiment treatments

[richardostler]

I can use PECO, for example, to describe field experiments where the crop is exposed, for example, to different rates of fertiliser, e.g. nitrogen fertilizer exposure. However, I cannot use it to describe several other types of experimental factors/interventions we use for field experiments, for example treatment factors such as:

• tillage (e.g. no-till vs conventional till; comparison of tillage implement)
• residue management
• cropping systems (e.g. mono vs crop rotations; companion, cover and intercropping)
• irrigation (rainfed vs irrigated; irrigation implement/method)
• non-chemical pest control methods (e.g. trap crop vs non trap crop)

Except for cropping system, a lot of these treatment factors could be represented using the AGRO's planned processes. for example, no-till vs conventional till could be represented using tillage as the treatment factor and no-till and conventional tillage process as the treatment factors.

My concern is that while PECO's nitrogen fertilizer exposure is explicitly defined as "the use of nitrogen fertilizer and its components as supplements to study various types of responses", there isn't an equivalent definition e.g. for tillage, i.e. "...the use of tillage processes to study various types of responses".

So, my questions are:

1. Is the use of AGRO outlined above OK and therefore PECO is not necessary for describing these interventions? - I would have thought not as I wouldn't use AGRO's agronomic fertilization process in place of nitrogen fertilizer exposure.
2. If my concern is valid, should PECO be describing these types of interventions?
   If so, is this on a road map or is it an area which needs developing?

thanks

Richard

[cooperl09]

Hi Richard, I believe you are on the right track with these and AGRO is the best place for the tillage interventions. In most cases, the AGRO term can be used to describe the process and the PECO term can be used to describe the exposure. There are probably areas of PECO that need to be filled out to cover these types of interventions. I discussed with @marieALaporte and she can comment as well. We need to think about the areas where PECO and AGRO interact.

[richardostler]

Hi Laurel, phew, good to know I'm on the right track.

I've got a list of terms for interventions and related AGRO processes based on real world field experiments that I want to describe. If its useful for extending PECO I can tidy these up and share.