Determining nitrogen status and quantifying nitrogen fertilizer requirement using a critical nitrogen dilution curve for hybrid indica rice under mechanical pot-seedling transplanting pattern

Abstract

Field experiments of nitrogen (N) treatment at five different application rates (0, 75, 150, 225, and 300 kg ha−1) were conducted under pot-seedling mechanical transplanting (PMT) in 2018 and 2019. Two high-quality and high-yielding hybrids of indica rice, Huiliangyou 898 and Y Liangyou 900, were used in this study. The N nutrition index (NNI) and accumulated N deficit (Nand), used to assess the N nutrition status in real-time, were calculated for the indica cultivars under PMT with a critical nitrogen concentration (Nc) dilution model based on shoot dry matter (DM) during the whole rice growth stage. The relationships between NNI and Nand with relative yield (RY) were determined, and accurate N application schemes were developed for hybrids indica rice under PMT. The results indicated that high application rate of N-fertilizer significantly increased the concentrations of shoot DM and N in aboveground organs during the observed stages in the two cultivars for two years (P<0.05). The Nc dilution model of hybrid indica cultivars was Nc=4.02DM−0.42 (R2=0.97) combining the two cultivars under PMT. Root-mean-square error and normalized root-mean-square error of the curve verification were 0.23 and 10.61%, respectively. The NNI and Nand ranged from 0.58 to 1.31 and 109 to –55 kg ha−1, respectively, in the two cultivars for all N treatments. NNI showed a linear relationship with Nand during the entire growth stage (0.53<R2<0.99, P<0.01). In addition, NNI showed a linear-plateau relationship with RY (0.73<R2<0.92, P<0.01) throughout the observed stages. These results suggest that the models can accurately diagnose the N-nutrition status and support effective N-fertilizer management in real-time for hybrid indica rice under PMT.

Keywords

• rice
• yield
• critical nitrogen concentration
• nitrogen nutrient index