Near Infrared Technology in Agricultural Sustainability: Rapid Prediction of Nitrogen Content from Organic Fertilizer

Abstract

Presented study employs the near infrared reflectance (NIRS) as a rapid and effective sensing technology in detecting and determining quality parameter of organic fertilizer in form of nitrogen content (N). a total of 10 organic fertilizers were used as samples made from agricultural waste. Near infrared spectra data were acquired and measured as absorbance for all samples in wavenumbers range 5,000 – 11,000 cm-1. On the other hand, actual N content was measured by means of standard laboratory procedures. Spectra data were corrected using de-trending second order (DT-2), standard normal variate (SNV) and combination of them (SNV+DT). Moreover, prediction models for N content determination were developed using principal component regression (PCR) followed by leverage cross validation. The results showed that N content can be predicted rapidly without involving chemical materials with maximum coefficient of determination are 0.98 for calibration and 0.95 for validation phase respectively. It may conclude that sensing technology based on NIRS can be applied as a rapid and effective method for N determination of organic fertilizers.