Nitrogen and chlorophyll status determination in durum wheat as influenced by fertilization and soil management: Preliminary results

Handheld chlorophyll meters as Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) have proven to be useful tools for rapid, no-destructive assessment of chlorophyll and nitrogen status in various crops. This method is used to diagnose the need of nitrogen fertilization to improve the efficiency of the agricultural system and to minimize nitrogen losses and deficiency. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of repeated conservative agriculture practices on the SPAD readings, leaves chlorophyll concentration and Nitrogen Nutrition Index (NNI) relationships in durum wheat under Mediterranean conditions. The experimental site is a part of a long-term-experiment established in 1994 and is still on-going where three tillage managements and three nitrogen fertilizer treatments were repeated in the same plots every year. We observed a linear relationship between the SPAD readings performed in the central and distal portion of the leaf (R2 = 0.96). In fertilized durum wheat, we found all positive exponential relationships between SPAD readings, chlorophyll leaves concentration (R2 = 0.85) and NNI (R2 = 0.89). In the unfertilized treatment, the SPAD has a good attitude to estimate leaves chlorophyll concentration (R2 = 0.74) and NNI (R2 = 0.77) only in crop grow a soil with relative high content of soil organic matter and nitrogen availability, as observed in the no tilled plots. The results show that the SPAD can be used for a correct assessment of chlorophyll and nitrogen status in durum wheat but also to evaluate indirectly the content of soil organic matter and nitrogen availability during different growth stages of the crop cycle.