Spad index for diagnosis of nitrogen status in ‘Esmeralda’ peach

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this research was to evaluate the technical feasibility of SPAD index in the diagnosis of N status in ‘Esmeralda’ peach. The field trial, with five N rates applied to the soil (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg ha-1 of N as urea form) was conducted in a randomized block design with four replications. During the years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, SPAD readings were carried out with a Minolta SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter, in the leaf middle part, in 40 leaves per plot. The leaf N content determination was performed in CHN-S Elemental Analyzer. SPAD index and leaf N content increased in a linear way in response to increasing N rates applied in soil. There was a positive linear correlation between SPAD index and N concentration in leaves (0.652; 0.756; 0.762 and 0.767, p<0.05). SPAD index can be used for nutritional N diagnosis purpose in peach when readings are taken between the 13th and 15th weeks after full bloom. In the range between 39 and 49, the SPAD index indicates the leaf N content is included in “normal” class (33 – 45 g kg-1) of agronomic interpretation for the States of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, Brazil.