Decision-making for thrips control in soybean fields using precision agriculture principles

The data used in this study were collected from four commercial soybean fields cultivated over two years (2017–2018 and 2018–2019 harvests) in the state of Tocantins, Brazil. These fields are in the savannah-like cerrado biome, which exhibits significant area under soybean cultivation under a tropical climate with rainy summers and dry winters. The density of thrips was evaluated by beating the plants and keeping a white plastic tray underneath to count the insects. This technique is suitable for estimating thrips density in soybean (Santos et al. 2021). In field A, thrips densities were estimated when the plants reached the soybean phenological stages V5 (fifth trifoliate), R2 (full flowering), R5 (beginning seed), and R6 (full seed). In field B, the densities were assessed when the plants reached the stages V4 (fourth trifoliate), V5, R2, R5, and R6. In field C, the densities were estimated when the plants were in stages V4, V5, R2, R3 (beginning pod), R5, and R6. Finally, in field D, densities were assessed when the plants reached the stages V4, V5, R2, R3, R4 (full pod), R5, and R6.