PIFEC

The tools currently used to calculate nitrogen fertilization for winter rapeseed are based on the projected nitrogen balance method. However, this method is regularly called into question due to the difficulty of estimating the yield target and the nitrogen supply by the soil at the time the balance is opened. For this reason, a method has recently been developed for integral management of nitrogen fertilization in straw cereals, based on remote sensing monitoring of the crop's nitrogen nutrition status in spring. This method uses an indicator that provides direct, real-time information on the crop's nitrogen requirements: the nitrogen nutrition index (NNI). The main challenge of the project is to develop this method for rapeseed.

• Definition of a threshold trajectory for the nitrogen nutrition index during the period of interest (from winter emergence to flowering), which is not detrimental to yield.
• Creation of operational decision rules for dynamic management of nitrogen fertilization (maintaining the nutrition index above the threshold trajectory at all times during the period of interest), based on existing ecophysiological knowledge, expertise and the use of a crop model.
• Development of reliable tools for indirect estimation of the nitrogen nutrition index (remote sensing) to ensure the operationality of decision rules.

The method that will be developed in this project aims to offer a real time method for managing nitrogen fertilization, enabling the doses of nitrogen applied to be better adjusted to the crop's needs than the forecast balance method. The results of this project will have an innovative scope, as there is no tool using this method for winter rapeseed. The project will encourage the creation of projects in partnership with private companies in the sectors of agricultural cooperation and trade, remote sensing and the marketing of digital farm management solutions and crop management aids.