Integrating spectral and texture indices from Jilin-1 imagery with soil and fertilization data to predict plot-level sugarcane yield, millable stalk population and Brix

Abstract Purpose The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of high spatial resolution Jilin-1 satellite imagery for plot-level prediction of sugarcane yield, millable stalk population, and Brix, and to assess whether integrating spectral, texture, soil, and fertilization information could improve prediction performance for precision sugarcane management. Methods Jilin-1 satellite imagery acquired at four growth stages, from seedling to maturity, was used to derive vegetation indices (VIs) and texture indices (TIs), including the normalized difference texture index (NDTI), enhanced vegetation texture index (EVTI), and double-difference ratio texture index (DDRTI). Soil chemical properties (SCPs) and fertilization information (FI) were further incorporated with the remotely sensed variables. Machine learning models were developed for plot-level prediction of sugarcane traits across plant cane and first ratoon cane, and texture window size was optimized to improve TI extraction and model performance. Results For yield, the combination of VIs and TIs outperformed VIs alone at the tillering stage (R 2 CV = 0.65, RMSECV = 15.06 t/ha, RPDCV = 1.68). Adding SCPs and FI further improved yield prediction across plant cane and first ratoon cane (R 2 CV = 0.70, RMSECV = 13.84 t/ha, RPDCV = 1.83). Millable stalk population was best predicted at the maturation stage by VIs and Tis, achieving the best performance (R 2 CV = 0.63, RMSECV = 6602 stalks/ha, RPDCV = 1.66). The best Brix model integrated VIs, TIs, SCPs, and FI at the maturation stage (R 2 CV = 0.44, RMSECV = 0.53 °Bx, RPDCV = 1.33). SHAP analysis identified VIs as the dominant features for sugarcane traits prediction. And, DDRTI contributed more than NDTI and EVTI in yield and Brix prediction. Conclusion It is concluded that integrating spectral, texture, soil, and fertilization information from high spatial resolution Jilin-1 imagery is a promising approach for improving plot-level prediction of key sugarcane traits.