Improving Irrigation Regimes and Plant Spacing to Maximize Rice Grain Yield and Water Productivity

Water shortage is a major environmental stress that destructively impacts maize production, particularly in arid regions. Therefore, improving irrigation management and increasing productivity per unit of water applied are needed, especially under the rising temperature and precipitation fluctuations induced by climate change. Laboratory and field trials were carried out in the present study, which were aimed at assessing the possibility of promoting maize germination, growth, grain yield and crop water productivity (CWP) using seed priming under different irrigation regimes. Two seed priming treatments, i.e., hydro-priming and hardening versus unprimed seeds, were applied under four irrigation regimes, i.e., 120, 100, 80 and 60% of estimated crop evapotranspiration (ETc). The obtained results indicated that increasing irrigation water from 100% up to 120% ETc did not significantly increase grain yield or contributing traits, while it decreased CWP. Deficit irrigation of 80 and 60% ETc gradually decreased grain yield and all attributed traits. Seed priming significantly ameliorated seedlings’ vigor as indicated by earlier germination, higher germination percentage, longer roots and shoots, and heavier fresh and dry weight than unprimed seeds with the superiority of hardening treatment. Additionally, under field conditions, seed priming significantly increased grain yield, yield contributing traits and CWP compared with unprimed treatment. Interestingly, the results reflect the role of seed priming, particularly hardening, in mitigating negative impacts of drought stress and enhancing maize growth, grain yield and attributed traits as well as CWP under deficit irrigation conditions. This was demonstrated by a significant increase in grain yield and CWP under moderate drought and severe drought conditions compared with unprimed treatment. These results highlight that efficient irrigation management and seed priming can increase maize yield and water productivity in arid environments.

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Integrated Effect of Plant Density, N Rates and Irrigation Regimes on the Biomass Production, N Content, PAR Use Efficiencies and Water Productivity of Rice Under Irrigated Semiarid Environment

Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca ◽

10.15835/nbha4017761 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 201 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Shakeel AHMAD ◽

Mirza HASANUZZAMAN

Keyword(s):

Grain Yield ◽

Management Practices ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Plant Density ◽

Block Design ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Research Area ◽

Semiarid Environment ◽

Irrigation Regimes ◽

Plant Densities

Two field experiments were conducted for two years (2000 and 2001) at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), Pakistan. There were 15 treatment combinations for experiment-I having three plant densities, viz., one seedling hill-1 (PD1), two seedlings hill-1 (PD2) and three seedlings hill-1 (PD3) and five nitrogen rates, viz., 0, (N0); 50, (N50); 100, (N100); 150, (N150); and 200 (N200) kg N ha-1. Experiment-II also included 15 treatments having three plant densities, viz., one seedling hill-1 (PD1), two seedlings hill-1 (PD2) and three seedlings hill-1 (PD3) and five irrigation regimes, viz., 62.5 cm (I1), 77.5 cm (I2), 92.5 cm (I3), 107.5 cm (I4), and 122.5 cm (I5). A randomized complete block design (RCBD) was employed with three repetitions. The results for experiment-I revealed that the highest biomass (1438 g m-2), grain yield (497 g m-2), crop growth rate (15.36 g m-2 d-1), net assimilation rate (4.24 g m-2 d-1) were observed in the treatment having combination of two seedlings hill-1 and 200 kg N ha-1 (PD2N200). The agronomic and economic nitrogen and PAR use efficiencies were also higher in this treatment. In case of experiment-II, the highest biomass and grain yield were obtained in case of treatment having combination of two seedlings hill-1 and 107.5 cm irrigation regime (PD2I107.5). The irrigation application based water productivity ranged from 0.36 kg mm-3 to 0.61 kg mm-1, irrigation plus precipitation based water productivity ranged from 0.32 kg mm-3 to 0.55 kg mm-3 and evapotranspiration based water productivity ranged from 0.65 kg mm-3 to 0.84 kg mm-3 among 15 treatments combination of plant density and irrigation regimes. This study concludes that for increasing the benefits for the resource-poor growers, the integration of crop management practices is an optimum strategy to substantially increase the resources use efficiency under irrigated semiarid environment.

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EFFECT OF APPLICATION OF RICE STRAW COMPOST AND NPK FERTILIZERS UNDER SOME IRRIGATION REGIMES ON GRAIN YIELD AND WATER PRODUCTIVITY OF EHR1 HYBRID RICE CULTIVAR

Journal of Plant Production ◽

10.21608/jpp.2012.84183 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 445-462

Author(s):

I. El-Refaee

Keyword(s):

Grain Yield ◽

Rice Straw ◽

Hybrid Rice ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Rice Cultivar ◽

Npk Fertilizers ◽

Irrigation Regimes

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ENHANCING WATER AND FERTILIZER SAVING WITHOUT COMPROMISING RICE YIELD THROUGH INTEGRATED CROP MANAGEMENT

Indonesian Journal of Agricultural Science ◽

10.21082/ijas.v11n2.2010.65-73 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 65

Author(s):

I.P. Wardana ◽

A. Gania ◽

S. Abdulrachman ◽

P.S. Bindraban ◽

H. Van Keulen

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Organic Matter ◽

Grain Yield ◽

Rice Yield ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Crop Management ◽

Yield Response ◽

Plant Spacing ◽

Crop Establishment ◽

Integrated Crop Management

Water and fertilizer scarcity amid the increasing need of rice production challenges today’s agriculture. Integrated crop management (ICM) is a combination of water, crop, and nutrient management that optimizes the synergistic interaction of these components aiming at improving resource use efficiency, i.e. high productivity of water, land, and labor. The objectives of the study were to investigate the effects of crop establishment method, organic matter amendment, NPK management, and water management on yield of lowland rice. Five series of experiments were conducted at Sukamandi and Kuningan Experimental Stations, West Java. The first experiment was focused on crop establishment method, i.e. plant spacing and number of seedlings per hill. The second, third, and fourth experiments were directed to study the effect of NPK and organic matter applications on rice yield. The fifth experiments was designed to evaluate the effect of water management on rice yield. Results showed that 20 cm x 20 cm plant spacing resulted in the highest grain yield for the new plant type rice varieties. Organic matter and P fertilizer application did not significantly affect grain yield, but the yield response to P fertilization tended to be stronger with organic matter amendment. Split P application did not significantly increase grain yield. The use of a scale 4 leaf color chart reading resulted in a considerable N fertilizer saving without compromising rice yield. Intermittent irrigation technique saved water up to 55% without affecting yields, resulting in a 2-3 times higher water productivity.

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CROP COEFFICIENT AND WATER PRODUCTIVITY IN CONVENTIONAL AND SYSTEM OF RICE INTENSIFICATION (SRI) IRRIGATION REGIMES OF TERRACE RICE FIELDS IN INDONESIA

Jurnal Teknologi ◽

10.11113/jt.v76.5958 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 76 (15) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Chusnul Arif ◽

Kazunobu Toriyama ◽

Bayu Dwi Apri Nugroho ◽

Masaru Mizoguchi

Keyword(s):

Grain Yield ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Crop Coefficient ◽

Rice Fields ◽

System Of Rice Intensification ◽

Growth Stages ◽

Irrigation Regimes ◽

Crop Development ◽

Rice Intensification ◽

Late Growth

The current study initiated to investigate crop coefficient (Kc) and water productivity between conventional and System of Rice Intensification (SRI) irrigation regimes of terrace rice fields in Indonesia. Kc value represents plant responses to available water in the fields and its information is very important to determine crop evapotranspiration. The field experiments were conducted in the terrace rice fields belong to the local farmer located in Wonogiri, Central Java (S 7o47’18.66”, E 111o5’51.26”) during 21 July – 7 November 2014 in the dry season. Here, there were two irrigation regimes with three replications, i.e. conventional flooding (FL) regime and SRI with intermittent irrigation (II) regime. Water level in each regime was measured by pressure sensor, while weather parameters such as solar radiation, air temperature, precipitation, etc were measured by particular sensors and connected to the developed field monitoring system. Based on weather and water level data, we estimated the average Kc values for FL regime were 1.01, 1.02, 1.09 and 1.05 in the initial, crop development, reproductive and late growth stages, respectively. Meanwhile, the average Kc values under SRI regime were a little bit lower than that FL regime. Their values were 1.00, 0.96, 1.02 and 1.04 for the initial, crop development, reproductive and late growth stages, respectively. The reason was probably due to minimum soil evaporation under the drier soil condition. However, lower Kc values were not corresponded to the production of grain yield. Although it was not significant difference, we recorded that SRI regime produced 8.05 ton/ha grain yield, while FL regime was 7.63 ton/ha. Accordingly, with less irrigation water, SRI regime has higher water productivity than that FL regime.

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Effects of plant population and row spacing on grain yield of aerial-sown and drill-sown rice

Crop and Pasture Science ◽

10.1071/cp19421 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 71 (3) ◽

pp. 219 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

B. W. Dunn ◽

T. S. Dunn ◽

J. H. Mitchell ◽

J. Brinkhoff

Keyword(s):

Grain Yield ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Plant Population ◽

Yield Potential ◽

Row Spacing ◽

Rice Grain ◽

Plant Populations ◽

Rice Varieties ◽

Eastern Australia ◽

The Impact

Objective guidelines about plant population are essential to ensure that yield potential of rice grain is not compromised. Drill-sowing of rice is increasing in popularity in many rice-growing regions of the world in response to a requirement for increased water productivity, but little information is available on row-spacing widths required to maximise grain yield potential. This research investigated the impacts of plant population on grain yield and yield components for aerial- and drill-sown rice, and the effects of row-spacing width for drill-sown rice grown in a temperate environment. Ten aerial-sown and five drill-sown experiments were conducted in south-eastern Australia over three seasons using four semi-dwarf rice varieties. Plant populations ranged from 7 to 396 plants m–2. Plant populations as low as 30 plants m–2 were able to achieve grain yields >12 t ha–1 but only when the plants were uniformly distributed. At a population of ~100 plants m–2, the impact of plant-stand distribution was negligible. Grain yield was maintained across a large range of plant populations, mainly through compensatory effects of more tillers per plant and more grains per panicle at lower plant populations. For aerial-sown rice, maximum grain yield (up to 14.9 t ha–1) was always achieved with a minimum plant population of 100 plants m–2, and likewise for drill-sown rice provided the row spacing was ≤27 cm. At equivalent plant populations, 36-cm row spacing produced lower grain yield than narrower row spacings. When large gaps existed between plants within the rows, neighbouring plants could not compensate for the gap at the wider 36-cm row spacing, and grain yield was reduced. A practical optimal plant population of 100–200 plants m–2 was found to be suitable for the semi-dwarf varieties used in this study for both aerial- and drill-sowing methods.

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EFFECT OF PRECISION LAND LEVELING, PLANTING METHOD AND BIOFERTILIZER APPLICATION ON RICE GRAIN YIELD IN SANDY SOILS

Journal of Soil Sciences and Agricultural Engineering ◽

10.21608/jssae.2009.93136 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 34 (5) ◽

pp. 5809-5822

Author(s):

O.T. Bahnas ◽

E.M. Arif ◽

S.N. Abd El-Haleim

Keyword(s):

Grain Yield ◽

Sandy Soils ◽

Rice Grain ◽

Land Leveling ◽

Planting Method

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Impact of Different Water Management Regimes on the Growth, Productivity, and Resource Use Efficiency of Dry Direct Seeded Rice in Central Punjab-Pakistan

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11061151 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1151

Author(s):

Sadam Hussain ◽

Saddam Hussain ◽

Zubair Aslam ◽

Muhammad Rafiq ◽

Adeel Abbas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Grain Yield ◽

Hybrid Rice ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Dry Weight ◽

Cost Ratio ◽

Yield Attributes ◽

Benefit Cost Ratio ◽

Direct Seeded ◽

Total Dry Weight ◽

Benefit Cost

Dry direct-seeded rice has been shown to save irrigation water and labor. Nonetheless, irrigation management in dry direct-seeded rice has received very little attention. Here, we examined the potential of different irrigation regimes: aerobic rice (AR), alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and continuous flooding (CF) in dry direct-seeded rice cultivation on two rice cultivars (Pride-1 (hybrid indica) and NB-1 (inbred indica)). Growth, yield attributes, grain yield, total water input, water productivity and benefit cost ratio were measured. Our results showed that AR saved 11.22 and 28.40%, and 5.72 and 32.98% water compared with AWD and CF during 2018 and 2020, respectively. There was a significant difference in grain yield among treatments and cultivars. AWD and CF produced statistically same total dry weight and grain yield, while AR reduced the total dry weight by 31.34% and 38.04% and grain yield by 34.82% and 38.16% in comparison to AWD and CF, respectively, across the years. Except for 1000-grain weight and harvest index in AWD and CF, further differences in total dry weight and grain yield among irrigation treatments were primarily correlated with variations in yield attributes. Among the cultivars, hybrid rice performed better than inbred rice. Over the two-year period, hybrid rice increased total dry weight, grain yield, and water productivity by 9.28%, 13.05%, and 14.28%, respectively, as compared to inbred rice. Regarding water productivity (WP), the maximum percentage (40.90 and 26.53%) was recorded for AWD compared to AR and CF. Among cultivars, more water productivity (14.28%) was calculated for hybrid rice than inbred one. Chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, leaf area index and crop growth rate contributed to higher grain yield of hybrid rice under AWD and CF. In contrast to WP, the maximum benefit cost ratio was estimated to be higher for CF than that of AR and AWD. For the cultivars, the maximum value (2.26 in 2018 and 2.32 in 2020) was calculated for hybrid rice compared with the inbred one. In conclusion, these results suggests that AWD with maximum WP and CF with maximum BCR could be more efficient approaches than AR. Under CF, hybrid rice cultivars with higher yield and yield-related attributes, WP and BCR performed better.

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Green Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: Fortification for Rice Grain Yield and Nutrients Uptake Enhancement

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26030584 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 584

Author(s):

Omnia M. Elshayb ◽

Khaled Y. Farroh ◽

Heba E. Amin ◽

Ayman M. Atta

Keyword(s):

Zinc Oxide ◽

Grain Yield ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Metal Oxide Nanoparticles ◽

Foliar Spray ◽

Yield Component ◽

Oxide Nanoparticles ◽

Rice Grain ◽

Zno Nps ◽

Agriculture Sector

Applications of metal oxide nanoparticles in the agriculture sector are being extensively included as the materials are considered superior. In the present work, zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO NPs), with a developing fertilizer, is applied in the fortification of rice grain yield and nutrient uptake enhancement. To evaluate the role of ZnO NP, two field experiments were conducted during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. ZnO NPs were small, nearly spherical, and their sizes equal to 31.4 nm, as proved via the dynamic light scattering technique. ZnO NPs were applied as a fertilizer in different concentrations, varying between 20 and 60 mg/L as a foliar spray. The mixture of ZnSO4 and ZnO NP40 ameliorated yield component and nutrients (N, K, and Zn) uptake was enhanced compared to traditional ZnSO4 treatment. Nevertheless, the uptake of the phosphorous element (P) was adversely affected by the treatment of ZnO NPs. Thus, treatment via utilizing ZnO NPs as a foliar with a very small amount (40 ppm) with of basal ZnSO4 led to a good improvement in agronomic and physiological features; eventually, higher yield and nutrient-enriched rice grain were obtained.

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