'Plant Breeding: Sustaining the Future' Abstracts of the XVIth EUCARPIA Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland, 10-14 September 2001 CROP QUALITY ASSESSMENT BY NIRS ARRAY SPECTROMETERS ON PLOT HARVESTERS C. PAUL, A. HAEUSLER, M. RODE, C. PFITZNER Institute of Crop and Grassland Science, Federal Agricultural Research Institute (FAL), Bundesallee 50, D-38116 Brauschweig, Germany

Our work to assess the composition of crops such as forages, cereals and oilseeds in field trials without having to handle samples, transport them to a laboratory, dry, grind and chemically analyze them.  For this purpose, the concept of near infrared diffuse reflectance measurements under field conditions by means of compact integrated InGaAs-diode array spectrometers on small plot harvesters is being evaluated for plant breeding trials.  Results of dry matter assessments in forages and grains are presented as obtained on forage harvesters and combine harvesters equipped with specific NIRS modules.