Jarrod Miller, Extension Agronomist, University of Delaware
Precision nitrogen (N) management through the use sensors has been used to improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) for field crops by estimating corn needs during early growth stages (Aula et al., 2020; Cao et al., 2017) Indices have been developed using specific wavelengths of light, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to estimate plant biomass and correlate it to N needs (Holland et al., 2012; Raun et al., 2005a; Dellinger et al., 2008). The use of NDVI has allowed for reductions in N application have been performed without reducing crop yield (Barker and Sawyer, 2012; Aula et al., 2020).
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