Estimation of nitrogen uptake dynamics in banana with two simple indicators of biomass

Introduction – Banana cropping systems in the French West Indies are tending towards low nitrogen (N) input cropping systems. This implies efficient N management by monitoring N uptake in the plant to ensure that N resources are sufficient to match with crop N requirements. Biomass drives N uptake in plant, so biomass can be considered as an indicator of N uptake. But determining biomass in banana is tedious and disruptive to the cropping system. Materials and methods – The ability of five relationships to estimate banana biomass at vegetative and reproductive stages was investigated by using only two indicators: basal girth and fruit diameter. Then, these relationships were used to estimate the N uptake of banana plants at different phenological stages during two successive crop cycles. Results and discussion – Basal girth proved a good indicator for i) estimating banana biomass at the vegetative stage (RRMSE=0.29) and ii) fruit number (RRMSE=0.09). The increase in biomass at the reproductive stage resulted from the bunch development, whose biomass was explained by the fruit number and the fruit weight (R²=0.86). Fruit weight is accurately predicted with fruit diameter (RRMSE=0.13). Regression analysis confirmed the allometric relationship between banana biomass and nitrogen content. These relationships allowed a good prediction of nitrogen uptake during two crop cycles (RRMSE=0.14). Conclusion – Use of only two easily measured, non-destructive and inexpensive indicators could be key elements in the management of N fertilization in banana plantations. The relationships developed in this study could be derived and coupled with crop simulation models to investigate consequences of new N fertilization practices on N bioavailability in banana cropping systems.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Ruille, Marie, Dorey, Elodie, Dorel, Marc
Format:	article biblioteca
Language:	eng
Subjects:	F61 - Physiologie végétale - Nutrition, F08 - Systèmes et modes de culture, Musa, fertilisation, banane, rendement des cultures, cycle de l'azote, biomasse, engrais azoté, azote, physiologie végétale, système de culture, allométrie, plante de couverture, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4993, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_10795, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_806, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_10176, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_27938, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_926, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_5195, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_5192, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_25189, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1971, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_24962, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1936, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3081, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3406, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_36645,
Online Access:	http://agritrop.cirad.fr/607607/ http://agritrop.cirad.fr/607607/1/Ruille%20et%20al.%2023%20Fruits%2078%283%29%20art.%20009.pdf
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!