Abstract
The correct fertilization of vegetable crops is commonly determined on the basis of soil and plant costly destructive analyses, demanding more sustainable non-invasive optical detection. Here, we tested the ability of the combined transmittance/fluorescence leaf clip Dualex device for determining the nitrogen (N) status of cabbage plants. Fully developed leaves from plants grown under different N rates of 0; 100; 200; 300 kg N ha−1 in 2018 and 2019 were measured in the field by the Dualex sensor twice a year in July and October. The chlorophyll (Chl) and nitrogen (nitrogen balance index, NBI) indices and the flavonols (Flav) index of the sensor were positively and negatively correlated to leaf nitrogen, respectively. Merging the two-years data, the NBI versus leaf N correlation was less point dispersed in October than July (R2 = 0.76 and 0.64, respectively). NBI was also correlated to cabbage yield, better in July than October. Our results showed that the multiparametric Dualex device can be used as precision agriculture tool for the early prediction of plant N and cabbage yield with economic advantage for the growers and reduced environmental contamination due to nitrate leaching.
Highlights
Soil analysis is one way to determine pre-plant fertilizer doses and fertilizer recommendations [1]
This is important for crops with a high nitrogen demand as white head cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata subvar. alba L.)
The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the Dualex optical sensor to determine the nitrogen status of cabbage plants and predict cabbage yields
Summary
Soil analysis is one way to determine pre-plant fertilizer doses and fertilizer recommendations [1]. More precisely the analysis of the indicator part of the plant, is used to confirm the correctness of the pre-plant doses used [2]. Soil and plant analysis can assess the adequacy of N management, identify deficient, adequate and excessive crop N status. This is important for crops with a high nitrogen demand as white head cabbage A precise determination of the plant N status can be fundamental to achieve high quality levels of cabbage heads, with limited content of nitrates, and reduce the risk of ground water nitrogen pollution [4]
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