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Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Imaging and Analysis for Quantifying Maize (Zea mays) Abiotic Stress Phenotypes
Published on: March 28, 2025
[Nitrogen status diagnosis by using digital photography analysis for organic fertilized maize]
Qin-ping Sun1, Ji-jin Li, Guo-yuan Zou
1Institute of Plant Nutrition and Resources, Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China. sunqinping@hotmail.com
Abstract:
It need a relative long term for the maize nitrogen status diagnosis with a destroyed samples taking. In the present research, a pot experiment with different organic fertilizer and different fertilizer amount input was conducted to study the possibility of using digital photography analysis technology to monitor the N status of organic fertilized maize at 10 leaves unfold stage. The results showed that the greenness intensity (GI) and redness intensity (RI) from maize canopy image had significant inverse linear correlations with the conventional N diagnosis parameters of SPAD readings, upland biomass and upland N uptake. However the blueness intensity (BI) had no significant correlations with those maize N indexes. The correlation coefficient values (r) were from 0.40 to 0.45 for GI, and from 0.45 to 0.53 for RI. To sum totally, the visible digital image color analysis method can be used for the organic fertilized maize N diagnosis at 10 leaves unfold stage. The redness intensity was a relatively better index than others for the organic fertilized maize N status diagnosis in this experimental condition.

