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Use of fluorescence-based sensors to determine the nitrogen status of paddy rice

SUMMARY The environmental concern about diffuse pollution from nitrogen (N) fertilizers has led to increased research on the diagnosis of crop N status. The SPAD chlorophyll (Chl) meter is the most commonly used tool for rice (Oryza sativa L.) N status diagnosis, but measurements are conducted at a specific point and readings are affected by different leaf positions. Many measurements per plant must be taken in order to increase the accuracy of N status diagnosis, which limits its application. The present paper attempts to determine rice N status at the canopy level using Multiplex®, a new hand-held optical fluorescence sensor. The fluorescence emission of rice leaves under light excitation was utilized by Multiplex® to non-destructively assess rice leaf Chl and phenolic compound content. A field experiment was conducted in 2011 using a completely randomized split-plot design, with main-plot treatments being six N fertilizer application rates and subplot treatments being different plant densities. Leaf Chl and phenolic compounds were evaluated using the ratio of far-red fluorescence (FRF) to red fluorescence (RF) emission under red light excitation (simple fluorescence ratio, SFR_R) (R2 = 0·35, P < 0·01) and the ratio of decadic logarithm of red to ultra-violet (UV) fluorescence emission (R2 = 0·30, P < 0·01), respectively. Both SPAD reading and fluorescence-based indices including flavonoids (FLAV), nitrogen balance index (NBI_R) and SFR_R could be used to predict rice leaf N contents. The canopy FLAV, SFR_R and NBI_R were all highly correlated to average SPAD readings (R2 > 0·70 in most cases, P < 0·01). Therefore, Multiplex® can be used as an alternative to SPAD to determine rice N status in paddy fields.