The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) said it is developing an Android application (app) that would allow farmers to assess the nitrogen content of their crop and help them cut fertilizer costs.
The PhilRice, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), said the app is based on a four-stripped “ruler” called Leaf Color Chart (LCC), which is used in assessing nitrogen status of the rice plant.
“The handy diagnostic tool, which identifies the nutrient deficiency through colors ranging from yellow green to dark green, helps farmers save one to two sacks of nitrogen in every hectare,” the PhilRice said in a statement.
“Now a mobile app in the pipeline, it will generate nitrogen recommendations from the digital images of rice leaves taken directly from the field,” it added.
Nitrogen is an essential rice plant nutrient for growth and improves grain yield and quality, according to the PhilRice.
Ailon Oliver Capistrano, PhilRice senior researcher, said the app will utilize the smartphone’s camera to take images of the leaves of the rice plant, which would be then assessed by the app as nitrogen concentration could be measured through the leaves.
“Different camera types are normally installed in smartphones with variations in terms of resolution. We found that all cameras will deliver an almost similar reading. This means that we can settle for the lowest or median camera resolution as it is also lower in cost,” Capistrano said.
The app measures the intensity of green color based on the captured leaf images and converts this into values correlated with the amount of nitrogen in the leaf, according to the PhilRice.
“The app is more accurate than the LCC because the assessment of the leaf color will no longer be based on the perception of users, which varies from person to person,” Capistrano said.
The PhilRice said the app will undergo field testing and the accuracy of its nitrogen recommendation will be evaluated
this year.
According to the International Rice Research Institute (Irri), nitrogen is an essential plant nutrient being a component of amino acids, nucleic acids, nucleotides, chlorophyll, enzymes and hormones. Nitrogen promotes rapid plant growth and improves grain yield and grain quality through higher tillering, leaf area development, grain formation, grain filling and protein synthesis.
The Irri also noted that nitrogen is the most limiting element in almost all soils. Thus, the proper application of nitrogen fertilizers is vital to improve crop growth and grain yields, especially in intensive agricultural systems. Insufficient and/or inappropriate fertilizer management can be detrimental to crops and the environment.