Chlorophyll meter- and leaf color chart-based nitrogen management for rice and wheat in northwestern India
No hay miniatura disponible
Fecha
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
Wiley
Resumen
Descripción
Overapplication of N in cereal crops leads to low N recovery efficiency and risk of NO3 pollution of ground water. The chlorophyll meter, also known as SPAD meter, is a simple, portable diagnostic tool for identifying crop N status. We used it to test need‐based N management approaches for rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) on a loamy sand in northwestern India. Applying 30 kg N ha−1 each time the SPAD value fell below the critical value of 37.5 resulted in application of 90 kg N ha−1, which produced rice yields equivalent to those with 120 kg N ha−1 applied in three splits. Using a SPAD value of 35 was inadequate for the two rice cultivars because it resulted in application of only 60 kg N ha−1 and, thus, low yields. With high inherent soil fertility resulting in rice yield of >3 Mg ha−1 in zero‐N plots, applying N basally or a week after rice transplanting did not further increase yield. Limited experimentation with leaf color chart (LCC) indicated that N management based on LCC shade 4 helped avoid overapplication of N to rice. Wheat responded to N application at maximum tillering (MT) when SPAD value fell below 44. Wheat yield increased by 20% when 30 kg N ha−1 was applied at SPAD value of 42 at MT. Results show that plant need–based N management through chlorophyll meter reduces N requirement of rice from 12.5 to 25%, with no loss in yield.
Palabras clave
chlorophyll, meters, spad meter, leaves, colour, charts, nitrogen fertilizers, india