Nitrogen nutrition index at GS 3.3 is an effective tool to adjust nitrogen required to reach attainable wheat yield

Current nitrogen (N) fertilization schedule for spring wheat was developed under a dominant crop-pasture rotation. After the year 2002, this cropping system was converted to continuous annual cropping systems under no-till, reducing soil N supply capacity progressively. Additionally, highest grain yield of new varieties increased N demand. The required additional N fertilizer can be adjusted by monitoring nutritional status of the crop. Our objectives were: i) to determine optimal N status at different phenological stages; ii) to quantify the wheat yield gap explained by N supply deficit, and iii) to assess the critical nitrogen nutrition index (NNI) value as a predictor of response to N fertilizer applied at GS 3.3. We adjusted the nitrogen dilution curve (Nc=4.17DM-0.31), deriving a critical NNI at GS 3.3 (NNI=1.24). Depending on soil N supply capacity and NNI at GS 3.3, wheat yield gap attributed to N supply deficit varied from 0 to 2.74 Mg ha-1, averaging 0.76 Mg ha-1. The critical NNI proposed at GS 3.3 was effective to diagnose the N crop demand to reach the attainable yield under different scenarios.