Effect of Rice Sowing Date on Occurrence of Small Brown Planthopper and Epidemics of Planthopper-Transmitted Rice Stripe Viral Disease

To understand the relationship between rice sowing date and occurrence of the rice small brown planthopper （SBPH） Laodelphax striatellus Fallen and the epidemics of the planthopper-transmitted rice stripe viral （RSV） disease, four sowing dates of rice were evaluated in 2006 and 2007. The results showed that the peak density of SBPH and RSV incidence in the nursery and in the transplanted field decreased with the delay of sowing date in single crop of japonica rice in north Zhejiang Province of China. The relationship between seedling RSV incidence at the end of the nursery trial with sowing date was well described by Weibull equation. The area under the curve of population dynamics （AUCPD or planthopper-day accumulation） or the peak density of the planthopper in the nursery could be summarized by a logistic equation. RSV incidence in the transplanted fields could be characterized quantitatively by a multivariate regression equation, including the variables of sowing date, peak density of the vector, and RSV incidence at the end of the nursery trial. That the descriptive model excluded the AUCPD in transplanted field implies that this variable is not necessary in forecasting disease epidemics in the field. The 2-year experiments sufficiently indicated that suitable sowing of rice could be used as one of the effective measures to control the vector population and therefore the planthopper-transmitted RSV on a larger scale. The optimal sowing date for the single-cropped transplanted japonica rice is recommended from late May to early June in north Zhejiang, China.

Influences of Cadmium on Grain Mineral Nutrient Contents of Two Rice Genotypes Differing in Grain Cadmium Accumulation

A pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of Cd on grain Cd, K, P, Mg, Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe and Mn accumulation in two rice genotypes （Xiushui 63 and Xiushui 217） differing in grain Cd accumulation under four Cd levels, i.e. 0, 0.5, 2.5 and 12.5 mg/kg. Rice genotype greatly affected the grain K content, but not significantly for P, Mg, Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe and Mn contents. There were remarkable effects of additional Cd on the contents of P, Mg and Zn in grains, while not significant for K, Cu, Pb, Fe and Mn contents. No significant differences were found in the interaction of genotype by additional Cd on these nine element contents. The low grain Cd accumulation genotype Xiushui 217 had significantly higher grain K, Mg, Cu and Mn contents than the high grain Cd accumulation genotype Xiushui 63, but the case was opposite for Zn, Pb and Fe contents. It also showed that Cd addition levels significantly influenced the K, P, Mg, Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe and Mn contents in rice grains. Grain K, P, Mg, Zn, Fe and Mn contents reduced with the increasing rate of Cd addition.