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 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 7648 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 195 ­ – Rice R&D 2016 Brian Dunn, Tina Dunn, Iain Hume and Beverly Orchard NSW Department of Primary Industries, Yanco Agricultural Institute Remy Dehaan Charles Sturt University Andrew Robson University of New England C URRENTLY, the NIR tissue test is the recommended method for determining nitrogen requirement for rice at PI, however less than 30% of growers are currently using this system. Remote sensing would reduce the need to physically sample the rice crop and the derived maps of nitrogen uptake at PI would provide a greater understanding of nitrogen variability throughout the crop, which would be an added bonus. Applying nitrogen to a rice crop at PI is efficient and reliable as the crop’s growth already takes into account some of the unknown variables at sowing such as early seasonal temperatures and available soil nitrogen. The NIR tissue test has been the industry standard for measuring crop growth and nitrogen at PI since the mid- 1980s. Unfortunately many growers and agronomists do not take advantage of this technology but rely on estimating the rice crop’s nitrogen requirements. One of the main reasons growers do not use the test is difficulty in sampling the rice crop in the water. Four years of research has been conducted to investigate how accurately nitrogen uptake of rice at PI can be predicted using remote sensing from drones, aircraft and satellites. This was part of an ongoing Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation (RIRDC) research project. Researchers have been investigating the use of remote sensing to predict nitrogen uptake at panicle initiation (PI) and the results are encouraging. QUICK TAKE l  Nitrogen uptake maps of rice crops at panicle initiation (PI), derived from remote sensing, would reduce the need for physical sampling and provide a greater understanding of crop variability. l The high-resolution satellite- based Worldview 3 has shown potential for predicting PI nitrogen uptake but another season’s data is required to be confident it can work across seasons. l The new micaSense RedEdge camera, which can be mounted on a drone, looks promising from one season’s results and will be further tested in the 2016–17 season. l  The success of a remotely sensed option to measure PI nitrogen uptake is dependent on accuracy of predictions and affordability. REMOTE SENSING PI NITROGEN UPTAKE IN RICE l Craig Dawe and Tina Dunn collecting rice canopy spectra (remotely-sensed data) using a hyperspectral scanner mounted on a four-wheel drive motorbike.