Determination of Nitrogen Requirement of Rice (Oryza sativa L. cv Guilaneh) Using Nitrogen Nutrition Index and Chlorophyll Meter

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Agronomy Department, Agricultural Faculty of Guilan University

2 Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

3 Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran, forghani@guilan.ac.ir

4 Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran, a.sabouri@guilan.ac.ir

5 Rice research institute of Iran

6 Department of Agronomy and Plant breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, Guilan University, Rasht, Iran

Abstract

In order to determine the nitrogen requirement of rice (cv. Guilaneh) using the nitrogen nutrition index and chlorophyll meter, an experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with three replications in the research field of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran in 2016. Experimental treatments consisted of six nitrogen fertilizer levels (0, 60, 120, 180, 240, and 300 kg N. ha-1; Urea source). Evaluation of the relationship between nitrogen nutrition index and chlorophyll-meter readings at three stages of plant growth (maximum tillering, booting, and heading) to predict grain yield in response to nitrogen fertilizer showed that the equation of the critical nitrogen concentration in Guilaneh was Nc = 3.99W -0.36. The correlation between chlorophyll-meter readings and nitrogen nutrition index was positive and significant at each plant growth stage. The results showed that the mature lower leaves were more sensitive than the younger higher leaves in response to nitrogen fertilizer and were more suitable for detecting plant nitrogen status, especially during the booting and heading stages. The highest correlation was found between the nitrogen nutrition index and chlorophyll-meter (r=0.95*) and relative chlorophyll-meter (the ratio of chlorophyll-meter readings in each treatment to nitrogen saturated treatment) (r=0.96**) in the third leaf and booting stage. The overall results of this experiment showed that the nitrogen nutrition index and chlorophyll meter may consider reliable indicators for evaluating the nitrogen status of rice (cv. Guilaneh) during the growing season.

Keywords

Main Subjects


Determination of Nitrogen Requirement of Rice (Oryza sativa L. cv Guilaneh) Using Nitrogen Nutrition Index and Chlorophyll Meter

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

Introduction

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a strategic and leading staple food crop for more than 50% of the world’s population. Also, the rice crop provides 15% of protein and 21% of dietary energy per capita, particularly in rice-growing areas, where 90% of the rice is produced and consumed. Nitrogen is the most driving force of rice growth, development, and grain yield production. Therefore, quick and acurate diagnosis of nitrogen deman of paddy fields can lead to accurate soil nutrition management and quaranty economic yield. Then Lemaire constructed the nitrogen nutrition index (NNI) (Lemaire et al., 1996) by calculating the ratio of the actual nitrogen content of plants to the corresponding critical nitrogen concentration to make better use of the necessary nitrogen concentration curve in nitrogen nutrition diagnosis. To fulfill this research gape for the newly released rice cultivar (Guilaneh), the current method of estimation N requirement compared with the nitrogen nutrition index and chlorophyll meter at the research field.

Materials and Methods

A Field experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with three replications on the newly released rice cultivar (Guilanef) in the research field of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran in 2016. Experimental treatments consisted of six nitrogen fertilizer levels (0, 60, 120, 180, 240, and 300 kg N. ha-1; Urea source). The relationship between nitrogen nutrition index and chlorophyll-meter readings at three stages of plant growth (maximum tillering, booting, and heading) to predict grain yield in response to nitrogen fertilizer were calculated.

Results

Evaluation of the relationship between nitrogen nutrition index and chlorophyll-meter readings at three stages of plant growth (maximum tillering, booting, and heading) to predict grain yield in response to nitrogen fertilizer showed that the equation of the critical nitrogen concentration in Guilaneh was Nc = 3.99W -0.36. The correlation between chlorophyll-meter readings and nitrogen nutrition index was positive and significant at each plant growth stage. The results showed that the mature lower leaves were more sensitive than younger higher leaves in response to nitrogen fertilizer and were more suitable for detecting plant nitrogen status, especially during the booting and heading stages. The highest correlation was found between the nitrogen nutrition index and chlorophyll-meter (r=0.95*) and relative chlorophyll-meter (the ratio of chlorophyll-meter readings in each treatment to nitrogen saturated treatment) (r=0.96**) in the third leaf and booting stage.

Conclusion

The overall results of this experiment showed that the nitrogen nutrition index and chlorophyll meter may consider reliable indicators for evaluating the nitrogen status of rice (cv. Guilaneh) during the growing season. To effectively improve the estimation accuracy of the NNI estimation model, providing a new approach for improving NNI estimation methods based on more climate condition and other rice varieties is needed.

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