Potential of visible (RGB) imagery for dynamic monitoring of nitrogen requirements in winter wheat using the innovative APPI-N method

The balance-sheet method has been widely used for decades as a reference method to calculate the amount of nitrogen (N) fertilizer to supply to winter wheat. With this method, the amount of N fertilizer is calculated at the end of the winter to support the N requirement for an estimated yield level. This method is now being questioned because it has become difficult to predict yields, given climate change and the increased presence of pests in agroecological cropping systems, resulting in greater uncertainty about the yield achieved compared to conventional systems of the past. Alternative methods, such as the innovative approach of nitrogen fertilization (APPI-N; Ravier et al., 2018), are …