A hand-held red-infrared radiometer for measuring radiation interception by crop canopies

A simple and portable two-band radiometer to measure simultaneously, reflectance of red (r) and near infrared (ir) radiation from canopies of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is described. A strong linear relationship (r2 = 0.94) was observed between the normalised reflectance ratio (NR) calculated from r and ir reflected, and the fraction of incident photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) intercepted by peanut canopies up to a leaf area index of 3.0. The importance of and scope for measurements on radiation interception in crop improvement programs is discussed.