Agronomic performance and remote sensing assessment of organic and mineral fertilization in rice fields

Karen Marti-Jerez; Mar Català-Forner; Núria Tomàs; Gemma Murillo; Carlos Ortiz; María José Sánchez-Torres; Andrea Vitali; Marta S Lopes

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1230012

Agronomic performance and remote sensing assessment of organic and mineral fertilization in rice fields

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Oct 4:14:1230012. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1230012. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Karen Marti-Jerez¹, Mar Català-Forner¹, Núria Tomàs¹, Gemma Murillo², Carlos Ortiz², María José Sánchez-Torres³, Andrea Vitali⁴, Marta S Lopes⁵

Affiliations

¹ Sustainable Field Crops, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Amposta, Spain.
² Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, Lleida, Spain.
³ Global Change Unit, Image Processing Laboratory, University of Valencia, Paterna, Valencia, Spain.
⁴ Ente Nazionale Risi, Rice Research Centre, Castello d'Agogna, Italy.
⁵ Sustainable Field Crops, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Lleida, Spain.

Abstract

Introduction: Rice heavily relies on nitrogen fertilizers, posing environmental, resource, and geopolitical challenges. This study explores sustainable alternatives like animal manure and remote sensing for resource-efficient rice cultivation. It aims to assess the long-term impact of organic fertilization and remote sensing monitoring on agronomic traits, yield, and nutrition.

Methods: A six-year experiment in rice fields evaluated fertilization strategies, including pig slurry (PS) and chicken manure (CM) with mineral fertilizers (MIN), MIN-only, and zero-fertilization. Traits, yield, spectral responses, and nutrient content were measured. Sentinel-2 remote sensing tracked crop development.

Results: Cost-effective organic fertilizers (PS and CM) caused a 13% and 15% yield reduction but still doubled zero-fertilization yield. PS reduced nitrogen leaching. Heavy metals in rice grains were present at safe amounts. Organic-fertilized crops showed nitrogen deficiency at the late vegetative stages, affecting yield. Sentinel-2 detected nutrient deficiencies through NDVI.

Discussion: Organic fertilizers, especially PS, reduce nitrogen loss, benefiting the environment. However, they come with yield trade-offs and nutrient management challenges that can be managed and balanced with reduced additional mineral applications. Sentinel-2 remote sensing helps manage nutrient deficiencies. In summary, this research favors cost-effective organic fertilizers with improved nutrient management for sustainable rice production.

Keywords: Sentinel-2; nitrogen; nutritional deficiency; organic fertilization; precision agriculture; remote sensing; rice.

Grants and funding

This work was commissioned and funded by the Catalan Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, by the projects TED2021-131606B-C21 and PLEC2021-007786 of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and by the CROPDIVA (Climate Resilient Orphan croPs for increased DIVersity in Agriculture) project through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101000847. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.