Assessment and yield estimation of the German hop variety 'Hercules' using various UAVs – a case study

The site-specific yield determination in hop cultivation has so far been very difficult to perform. There are several research approaches aimed at significantly lowering the barriers. Site-specific yield determination also provides a data basis in hop cultivation to manage individual hop vines, hop plants, or at least sub-areas of hop gardens in a targeted manner. For a prominent hop garden with Germany’s most common hop variety, Hercules, the goal is to use multiple georeferenced data layers and actually measured sub-area yields to find robust correlations, aiming to replace site-specific yield determination in the tense harvest period as much as possible with a low-maintenance approach. Using the Crop Water Stress Index derived from thermal images, yield was explained up to 89 % in combination with site characteristics.