Coupling Satellite-Derived Vegetation Indexes and Ground-Truth Data in Hazelnut Cultivation to Assess Biostimulants’ Efficacy
Author(s)
Date Issued
2026
Type
article
Volume
16
Issue
2
Start Page
240
ISSN
2073-4395
Journal
Abstract
Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cultivation in Italy is facing constraints related to climate
change, causing decreases in production as a consequence of summer droughts and late
spring heatwaves. This two-year study (2024–2025, i.e., Y1 and Y2) evaluated the effectiveness
of two biostimulant protocols on the eco-physiological and productive performance
of a hazelnut orchard (cv ‘Tonda Gentile Romana’) in Central Italy. Treatment A included
a mixture of formulations (silicon, Ecklonia maxima and microalgae), while Treatment B
featured an Ecklonia maxima-containing biostimulant. Data-gathering combined groundlevel
measurements and remote-sensing technologies, which allowed for the extraction
and assessment of vegetation indexes such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
(NDVI), the Normalized Difference Red Edge Index (NDRE) and the Normalized
Difference Moisture Index (NDMI). Treatments A and B successfully maintained higher
chlorophyll content; this beneficial effect was validated by the NDVI, but the NDRE might
have suffered from soil interference due to its high sensitivity. The NDMI was positively
influenced by both treatments. Treatment A brought to a remarkable production increase
in both seasons, especially in Y1 with 7.75 kg plant−1 (+40% vs. Control) and without
negatively affecting the shell/nut ratio. These findings suggest that biostimulants could
represent an effective strategy for improving productivity and enhancing abiotic stress
resilience in hazelnut cultivation.
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
agronomy-16-00240-v2.pdf
Size
922.1 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
cecfb05badfd616f67487de6d5dba543