Heading Uniformity: A New Comprehensive Indicator of Rice Population Quality

Chuanhai Shu, Feijie Li, Dongdong Liu, Jian Qin, Mingtian Wang, Yongjian Sun, Na Li, Jun Ma and Zhiyuan Yang
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Chuanhai Shu: Crop Ecophysiology and Cultivation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Rice Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Feijie Li: Crop Ecophysiology and Cultivation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Rice Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Dongdong Liu: College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Jian Qin: Institute of Rice and Sorghum, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Deyang 618000, China
Mingtian Wang: Sichuan Provincial Meteorological Service, Chengdu 610072, China
Yongjian Sun: Crop Ecophysiology and Cultivation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Rice Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Na Li: Crop Ecophysiology and Cultivation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Rice Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Jun Ma: Crop Ecophysiology and Cultivation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Rice Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Zhiyuan Yang: Crop Ecophysiology and Cultivation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Rice Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Productive tiller percentage (PTP) is the only available comprehensive indicator of rice population quality. However, productive panicle number (PN) has a great effect on its characterization accuracy. Panicle exsertion is an important but difficult to describe morphological index; therefore, it cannot be easily determined. The aims of this study were to develop heading uniformity (HU), which describes the difference in the degree of rice panicle exsertion, as a new comprehensive indicator by designing a representative sampling and calculation method and exploring the relationship between HU and yield components. HU first decreased then increased after initial heading, exhibiting a single-valley curve. Adequate HU was obtained by panicle sampling on day two or three (panicle N fertilizer proportion ≤40 or >40%) after initial heading. The explanatory power of PTP for grain yield variance was markedly insufficient in low- and high-PN rice populations. Compared with the percent contribution of PTP to grain yield variance (12.32–41.26%), that of HU (49.02–61.93%) was greater and more stable across rice populations of different PNs. Moreover, HU showed fewer interannual variations, despite large interannual differences in weather and soil conditions. Hence, HU may have applications as a comprehensive indicator of rice population quality.

Keywords: rice population quality; heading uniformity; panicle number; productive tiller percentage; grain yield (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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