Reducing yield gaps through integrated crop establishment in irrigated rice

Crop establishment techniques need to be improved, integrated and adapted to local environments in order to approach yield potential of irrigated rice. Although several options are available (distinct types of direct-seeding, transplanting with distinct nursery management, different plant density), no extensive and comparative analysis of these techniques has been conducted to provide strategies to reduce yield gaps. Broadcasting and row seeding are attractive for their ease of operation, with low labor cost. In direct seeding, however, land leveling and water control are critical to ensure success of crop establishment, weeds are strong competitors and seeding rate is high. To overcome these issues, transplanting rice seedlings from a nursery to the main field has been the common practice in irrigated rice production areas where flooded water of 2-3 cm depth can be maintained from transplanting onwards. In Asia, this practice concerns about 90% of cultivated rice area in countries like Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Myanmar (Pandey and Velasco, 2002). In farmers' fields, seedlings are commonly grown in nurseries at about 3000 to 4000 seeds m-2 and transplanted when 20 to 30 days old. Transplanting at this age gives vigorous seedlings that are more resistant to pests like snails, easier to handle by transplanters, and have reduced tiller production, which lowers physiological costs of tiller abortion (Schnier et al, 1990). The practice of transplanting relatively old seedlings, however, delays onset of tiller emergence which has been correlated with reductions in grain yield of 1 t ha-1 (Pasuquin et al, 2008). This suggests that improvements in nursery management can reduce yield gaps so long as improvements can be adapted to farmers' conditions. This study investigated interactive effects of nursery management techniques on grain yield and underlying processes controlling yield, and to formalize integrated strategies, including direct-seeding, for reducing yield gaps.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Lafarge, Tanguy, Susanti, Zuziana, Faronilo, J., Burac, M.A., Pasuquin, Estela Magbujos, Cruz, R., Tuong, To Phuc
Format:	conference_item biblioteca
Language:	eng
Published:	Agropolis international
Subjects:	F08 - Systèmes et modes de culture, F01 - Culture des plantes,
Online Access:	http://agritrop.cirad.fr/558589/ http://agritrop.cirad.fr/558589/1/ID558589.pdf
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!