Comparison of different critical nitrogen dilution curves for nitrogen diagnosis in rice

The critical nitrogen (N) dilution curve is a suitable analytical tool for in-season estimation of N status to implement precision N management. This study was undertaken for a comprehensive comparison of N dilution curves in Japonica and Indica rice to investigate, whether a single curve can be used for both rice ecotypes and to determine the most robust plant index for assessing N status in rice ecotypes. The different N dilution curves were developed based on plant dry matter (PDM), leaf area index (LAI), leaf dry matter (LDM) and stem dry matter (SDM) for N diagnosis in Japonica and Indica rice. The comparison of N dilution curves of two rice ecotypes showed non-significant differences, therefore a single/unified curve can be used to assess plant N status for precision N management in both rice ecotypes. The relationships between PDM based, with LAI, LDM, and SDM based N nutrition index, accumulated N deficit and N requirement, indicated that leaf based approaches could be used as substitutes for PDM approach. The lower coefficient b values of LDM based curve (due to efficient physiological N use in leaves) implied that LDM was the most appropriate approach for developing N curve as compared to other approaches.