Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 4226 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 196 — Summer 2016 BETTER INFORMATION FROM IMPROVED NIR TISSUE TEST l  Good rice nitrogen management leads to increased grain yield, water use efficiency and profitability. l  The NIR Tissue Test allows the accurate determination of the rice crop’s nitrogen requirements at panicle initiation (PI) based on economic return. l  Recent updates to the NIR Tissue Test program have improved its accuracy for current rice varieties. l  The PI predictor is a useful tool for helping to determine approximately when PI should occur in a crop. The NIR Tissue Test is a free service for rice growers and agronomists, allowing them to make better nitrogen topdressing decisions for their rice crops. Brian Dunn Research Agronomist (Irrigation) NSW Department of Primary Industries Yanco Agricultural Institute A BIG advantage of using the NIR Tissue Test to determine nitrogen topdressing requirements at panicle initiation (PI) is that the recommendations are based on the economic return of applying the nitrogen fertiliser and will provide the most profitable option. The application of excessive nitrogen at PI not only wastes money but can also increase the risk of lodging and potentially increases the crop’s susceptibility to cold temperatures at microspore while insufficient nitrogen may reduce grain yield. The risk of lodging is even more important with the short season varieties, YRM70 and YRK5, and the tall variety Koshihikari, which all have an increased potential to lodge at high levels of crop nitrogen. QUICK TAKE Considerable research is being conducted on options for measuring PI nitrogen uptake with a reduced level of crop sampling.