Potential Use of Nitrogen Reflectance Index to estimate Plant Parameters and Yield of Maize

Estimating the spatial variability of various plant parameters during the growing season can assist in timely correction of stress conditions within a field. This research illustrates that the nitrogen reflectance index (NRI) developed to estimate plant nitrogen status can be used to estimate plant parameters and yield potential. The study was conducted on two experimental maize sites. Selected maize hybrids were ‘Pioneer 3790’, which was a planophile canopy architecture and ‘NC+ 1598’ with an erectophile canopy architecture. The first site consisted of six non-replicated fertiliser plots. Data from these plots were used to develop the relationships between reflectance data and the plant parameters. The second site contained four plots with various nitrogen (N) and water treatments on which the developed relationships were verified. Leaf area, biomass, and plant reflectance data were collected almost weekly from both sites during the 1996 growing season. Measured and estimated yield, leaf area index (LAI) and dry matter were mapped in ArcVIEW geographical information system. Results showed that the NRI was a comparable estimator of potential yield to the normalised difference vegetation index or to the modified soil adjusted vegetation index. For the LAI and biomass, all vegetation indices produced similar coefficients of determination. Results showed that the NRI could be used to estimate the within-field variation of yield potential and plant parameters.