Is it possible to forecast the grain quality and yield of different varieties of winter wheat from Minolta SPAD meter measurements?

A square root model of yield based on NE × SPAD gave the best fit (RMSE = 0.6 t ha−1 for both stages) if considering three different groups of genotypes. Based on the same variable, NE × SPAD, a quadratic model for NUG without significant effect of genotypes gave the best fit (RMSE, between 21 and 30 kg ha−1 depending of the growth stage). And, for GPC, considering the same three groups of genotypes, the slope of the linear model with the ratio of predicted grain nitrogen concentration to predicted yield, is the same at both stages and very close to the standard value used to calculate protein concentration from nitrogen concentration (5.7), but the predictive quality of the model is more than 10% higher at GS71 (R2 of 0.77) than at flowering (R2 of 0.64). Finally, the sensibility of the models to delay in the stage of measurement is discussed.