Nutritional Diagnosis and Management in Crop Systems

Effective crop production relies on accurate assessment of plant nutrient status and the tailored management of fertiliser inputs to sustain yields, minimise environmental impact and enhance resource use efficiency. Nutritional diagnosis integrates soil analysis, tissue testing and multivariate statistical methods to identify deficiencies, excesses or imbalances of macro- and micronutrients. Traditional approaches, such as sufficiency range determination, have given way to more sophisticated tools like the Diagnostic and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS) and Compositional Nutrient Diagnosis (CND), which consider the relative proportions of nutrients and their interactions. Recent advances in data analytics, machine learning and remote sensing are driving precision fertilisation strategies that predict crop requirements in real time, optimise application timing and reduce waste. Across diverse agroecosystems, from temperate cereals to tropical tree crops, these diagnostic and management frameworks underpin sustainable intensification by aligning nutrient supply with crop demand, improving yield stability and lowering the risk of nutrient runoff or leaching.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have refined DRIS-based calibration for micronutrient management in soybean, demonstrating that optimised DRIS norms outperform compositional methods in diagnosing boron status and can boost yield by over a quarter compared with conventional thresholds. Experimentation across a range of boron doses established decision limits that enhance fertiliser use efficiency and support global soybean sustainability. In another major contribution, the DRIS approach was applied to maize in a key production belt to reveal pervasive nutrient imbalances even under high-input regimes. By mapping DRIS indices for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and secondary elements, researchers identified antagonistic interactions and proposed differentiated soil- versus foliar-applied nutrients to achieve a more balanced nutritional profile, highlighting further yield potential through targeted corrections.

Nutritional Diagnosis and Management in Crop Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in nutritional diagnosis and management in crop systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Diagnostic and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS): A multivariate diagnostic method that uses nutrient ratio norms to assess and rank plant nutrient imbalances.

Compositional Nutrient Diagnosis (CND): A statistical approach that analyses the proportional relationships among all measured nutrients to determine critical levels and balance status.

Foliar diagnosis: Evaluation of plant nutritional status by analysing nutrient concentrations in leaf tissue samples.

References

1. A method for durian precise fertilization based on improved radial basis neural network algorithm. Frontiers in Plant Science (2024).
2. Proposal of Nutritional Standards for the Assessment of the Nutritional Status of Grapevines in Subtropical and Temperate Regions. Plants (2025).
3. Prescient diagnostic analysis for boron nutritional status in soy crops. Scientific Reports (2023).
4. Understanding nutrient imbalances in maize (Zea maysL.) using the diagnosis and recommendation integrated system (DRIS) approach in the Maize belt of Nigeria. Scientific Reports (2021).
5. Compositional Nutrient Diagnosis Methodology and Its Effectiveness to Identify Nutrient Levels in Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis). Agriculture (2024).