Technology Keeps Rice Fertilizer Nice
GreenSeeker eliminates guesswork in nitrogen application
Article
ID: 689074
Released: 7-Feb-2018 9:00 AM EST
Source
Newsroom: American
Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science
Society of America (SSSA)
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Credit: Telha Rehman.
Visiting professor Nadeem Akbar using
the Handheld GreenSeeker in the field.
Credit: drone operated by Scott
Gregory of Ag One Solutions.
Researcher Telha Rehman takes
measurements with the Handheld GreenSeeker to determine how much nitrogen the
rice contains.
Credit: Telha Rehman.
Visiting professor Nadeem Akbar using
the Handheld GreenSeeker in the field.
Credit: drone operated by Scott
Gregory of Ag One Solutions.
Researcher Telha Rehman takes
measurements with the Handheld GreenSeeker to determine how much nitrogen the
rice contains.
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— Feb. 7, 2018 - Farmers make a lot of decisions. One of the most important is
how much fertilizer to apply to their crops, and when to apply it. Applying
more than necessary or at the wrong time can waste resources, impact the
environment, and cut into narrow profits.
The
answer could lie in a small handheld device. A new tool may help growers make
better decisions in applying nitrogen fertilizer to their rice fields.
The
most wasteful application of nitrogen fertilizer occurs in the middle of the
season, says Telha Rehman. Rehman is a researcher at the University of
California, Davis. This is because it’s hard for farmers to know how much
nitrogen — an essential nutrient for plants — is already available to the
crops. He’s working to find a device that farmers can use to measure the amount
of nitrogen already in their crops.
While
the problem is not specific to rice, Rehman is focused on the crop because it
is a major crop in California. It is grown on more than 555,000 acres. Rice
also contributes more than $5 billion to the state’s economy annually.
“In
California, an increasing number of farmers are beginning to apply midseason
nitrogen fertilizer to their crop,” Rehman says. “Some growers now even plan a
midseason application by withholding some of the first application of nitrogen.
However, there has been no research to investigate whether these practices are
effective at increasing rice productivity. We hope to find the best nitrogen
management practices for California rice growers.”
The
traditional way of measuring the amount of nitrogen in the plants is by
destructively sampling them and submitting them to a lab for analysis. However,
this method has some problems.
Analyzing
plant samples is cumbersome and time-consuming. Fertilizer applications are
time-sensitive, and this procedure often returns results after the critical
time to apply fertilizer has passed. Additionally, Rehman explains, “It is
nearly impossible to sample enough to know the nitrogen content of the whole
field.”
To
combat this, Rehman has been testing a small tool called the Handheld
GreenSeeker to gather data on the plants. The device is able to collect data
without physically contacting the plants. It objectively measures how green the
plant is (nitrogen is a key component of the molecule that makes plants green).
The index then uses the “greenness” to determine how much nitrogen is in the
rice.
The
first results show the measurements can provide insight into nitrogen status of
the crop to guide in-season fertilizer application. The data can help farmers
use their fertilizer more efficiently and increase productivity—and prevent the
runoff of nitrogen from the fields.
“We
use the GreenSeeker mostly because it is simple and easy to use,” Rehman says.
“This new information should help growers to avoid fertilizer applications that
cost them both financially and in production.”
Rehman presented the
research at the October Annual
Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science
Society of America, and Soil Science Sochttp://www.newswise.com/articles/technology-keeps-rice-fertilizer-niceiety
of America in Tampa, FL.
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