Effects of different mechanical direct seeding methods on grain yield and lodging resistance of early indica rice in South China

Direct seeding of rice has become a main planting method due to the low labor input and high economic benefit in South China.Dry direct seeding(DDS)has been widely used for single-season rice planting establishment.However,few studies have examined the performance of early-season indica rice under mechanical dry direct seeding.A two-year field experiment was conducted with two indica rice cultivars(i.e.,Zhongjiazao 17 and Zhuliangyou 819)to study lodging characteristics and grain yield formation under DDS,flooded direct seeding(FDS)and wet direct seeding(WDS)patterns.The results showed that the annual grain yield in DDS was higher by 14.42–26.34%for cultivar ZLY819 and 6.64–24.58%for cultivar ZJZ17 than in WDS and FDS,respectively,and these increases were mainly attributed to the improvement of the panicles.The DDS pattern significantly increased the seedling emergence rate of early indica rice cultivars,and increased total dry weight and crop growth rate.Meanwhile,shorter basal internodes,better stem diameter and stem wall thickness and lower lodging index were found in DDS in contrast to FDS and WDS.In particular,DDS improved the stem lodging resistance.Our results suggested that the appropriate direct seeding method was beneficial for improving the grain yield and lodging resistance of early indica rice.

Occurrence,Damage and Control Index of Rape Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in Mechanical Direct Seeding Fields

Real-time monitoring and investigation in fields showed that the disease starting period of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in mechanical direct seeding fields was earlier. Disease conditions rose with the advancing growth stage, which grew more quickly during the early stage of anthesis, flower withering period and early si- lique mature period. Yield less rate increased with the increasing stem disease rate and disease index. Yield loss rate（ Y1 ） had extremely significant correlation with stem disease rate（X1 ）and disease index（X2 ）, and the related models were Y1 = 0. 544 330 2X1 -2. 316 1 （n = 14, r --0. 986 0 ＊ ＊ ）and YI = 0. 673 408 X2 - 1. 016 4 （ n = 14 ,r = 0.977 2 ~ ＊ ）, respectively. Disease control indexes for one time control against S. sclerotlorum in mechanical direct seeding fields were stem disease rate as 11.8% and disease index as 7.6, respectively. The control indexes for twice control against the disease were stem disease rate as 16.8% and disease index as 11.7. This paper provided a new scientific basis for preventing S. sclerotiorum in mechanical direct seeding fields.

Mesoscale Numerical Simulation Study of Warm Fog Dissipation by Salt Particles Seeding

Based on the dynamic framework of WRF and Morrison 2-moment explicit cloud scheme, a salt-seeding scheme was developed and used to simulate the dissipation of a warm fog event during 6–7 November 2009 in the Beijing and Tianjin area. The seeding effect and its physical mechanism were studied. The results indicate that when seeding fog with salt particles sized 80 μm and at a quantity of 6 gm^（-2） at the fog top, the seeding effect near the ground surface layer is negative in the beginning period, and then a positive seeding effect begins to appear at 18 min, with the best effect appearing at 21 min after seeding operation. The positive effect can last about 35 min. The microphysical mechanism of the warm fog dissipation is because of the evaporation due to the water vapor condensation on the salt particles and coalescence with salt particles.The process of fog water coalescence with salt particles contributed mostly to this warm fog dissipation. Furthermore, two series of sensitivity experiments were performed to study the seeding effect under different seeding amounts and salt particles sizes. The results show that seeding fog with salt particles sized of 80 μm can have the best seeding effect, and the seeding effect is negative when the salt particle size is less than 10 μm. For salt particles sized 80 μm, the best seeding effect, with corresponding visibility of 380 m, can be achieved when the seeding amount is 30 g m^（-2）.

Grain Shape Genes:Shaping the Future of Rice Breeding

The main goals of rice breeding nowadays include increasing yield,improving grain quality,and promoting complete mechanized production to save labor costs.Rice grain shape,specified by three dimensions,including grain length,width and thickness,has a more precise meaning than grain size,contributing to grain appearance quality as well as grain weight and thus yield.Furthermore,the divergence of grain shape characters could be utilized in mechanical seed sorting in hybrid rice breeding systems,which has been succeeded in utilizing heterosis to achieve substantial increase in rice yield in the past decades.Several signaling pathways that regulate rice grain shape have been elucidated,including G protein signaling,ubiquitination-related pathway,mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling,phytohormone biosynthesis and signaling,micro RNA process,and some other transcriptional regulatory pathways and regulators.This review summarized the recent progress on molecular mechanisms underlying rice grain shape determination and the potential of major genes in future breeding applications.

Study on Mechanization Hybrid Rice Seed Production Technology and Combine Breeding Advances

[Objectives]Current hybrid rice seed production mechanization and a new kind of hybrid rice seed production mechanization using Bentazone sensitive lethal genes for mechanized seed production technology are introduced in this paper.[Method]Sensitive Restorer Bentazone lethal dose of filtering,parental and seed weight are bred combinations of several aspects of the system described,and presented mechanized seed technology new research directions.[Results]The method of using Bentazone sensitive lethal genes for mechanized seed production technology is feasible,economic,seed production and combination advantages.[Conclusions] Using Bentazone sensitive lethal genes for mechanized seed production technology is the new study direction of mechanic production.

Research Progress on Mechanized Mixed Sowing Seed Production Technology of Hybrid Rice

Hybrid rice planting has been widely popularized and applied in the world. However, the high cost of seed production and the complicated procedures have become a bottleneck in the development of hybrid rice. The research progress on mixed sowing seed production techniques of hybrid rice was introduced from the aspects of rice resources creation, breeding, sowing seed technology research and cost benefit analysis. The production technology of the new mixed seeding combina- tion ＂Xinhunyou 6＂ was investigated, including the research and validation of benta- zon treatment period and dosage, mixing ratio of male and female parents, and the comparative test of different different sowing methods, which revealed that the mechanization technology of seed production of hybrid rice was mature and feasible and would be one of the most important development trend of technological devel- opment of hybrid rice production.

Molecular mechanisms controlling seed set in cereal crop species under stress and non-stress conditions

Maximizing seed yield is the ultimate breeding goal in important cereal crop species. Seed set is a key developmental stage in the process of seed formation, which determines grain number, seed mass, and realized yield potential, and can be severely affected by abiotic and biotic stresses. However, seed set can also be substantially reduced by genetic factors even under optimal fertilization conditions. The underlying molecular genetic mechanisms are still obscure. In this review, we elucidate the process of seed set of cereal crop species in detail, including development of floral structures, formation of viable gametes, double fertilization, seed development, and abortion. We discuss how genetic and non-genetic factors affect seed set in different development stages. Finally, we will propose novel strategies to study genetic mechanisms controlling seed set and exploit genetic resources to improve seed set in cereal crop species.

Inverse design and accurate optimization of layered structured seeding mechanism for sugarcane planters

Existing sugarcane planters are difficult to have ideal seeding trajectory and motion attitude at the same time, and the speed is difficult to meet the requirements at the critical stage, resulting in poor stability, which ultimately makes it impossible to ensure that the sugarcane seeding is carried out in accordance with the agronomic requirements to ensure that the cane buds are oriented toward the wall of the seeding trench. Aiming at the second-order non-circular planetary gear system pendulum seeding mechanism of the planter, the paper innovatively adopts the combination of inverse design and multi-objective layered accurate optimization to solve the problems of attitude, speed and trajectory that do not meet the requirements of fixed-attitude seeding that still exists in the process of sugarcane seeding. The second-order non-circular planetary gear system is simplified into a three-rod two-degree-of-freedom mechanism, and the radius of the pitch curve of each non-circular gear is solved inversely by actively preplanning the static trajectory of the cane seed motion and analyzing the law of motion of the rod assembly. Determining the range of cane seed attitude angles in different motion phases as the first layer optimization objective, and fine-tuning the position of static trajectory key type value points to achieve the first layer optimization. Based on the non-circular gear pitch curve obtained from optimization, the interpolation points are marked on each non-circular gear pitch curve of the second-order non-circular planetary gear system, and based on the parameter optimization method of human-computer interaction, the radius values corresponding to the interpolation points of the non-circular gear pitch curve are fine-tuned to optimize the pitch curves, so as to satisfy the speed requirements of the cane species in each stage, and at the same time to make the convexity of non-circular gears in line with the principle of gear mesh, so as to complete the second layer of accurate optimization. The results of simulation verification show that the motion trajectory attitude of the virtual prototype is basically consistent with the theoretical model, which verifies the feasibility of the mechanism design. This study provides a new optimized design method for the cane seeding mechanism of sugarcane planters to achieve directional seeding.

Design, development and field assessment of a controlled seed metering unit to be used in grain drills for direct seeding of wheat

A newcontrolled seed metering unit was designed and mounted on a common grain drill for direct seeding of wheat(DSW).It comprised the following main parts:(a)a variable-rate controlled direct current motor(DCM)as seed metering shaft driver,(b)two digital encoders for sensing the rotational speed of supplemental ground wheel(SGW)and seed metering shaft and(c)a control box to handle and process the data of the unit.According to the considered closed-loop control system,the designed control box regularly checked the revolution per minute(RPM)of seed metering shaft,as operation feedback,using its digital encoder output.The seeding ratewas determined based on the calculated error signal and output signal of the digital encoder of the SGW.A field with four different levels of wheat stubble coverage(10%,30%,40%and 50%)was selected for evaluation of the fabricated seed metering unit(FSMU).The dynamic tests were conducted to compare the performance of installed FSMU on the grain drill and equipped grain drill with common seed metering unit(CSMU)at three forward speeds of 4,6 and 8(Km/h)for DSW.Results of the FSMU assessment demonstrated that an increase in forwardspeed of grain drill(FSGD)and stubble coverage did not significantly affect the seeding rate in the grain drill forDSW.Using theFSMU reduced the coefficient of variation(CV)by approximately 50%.Consequently,applying the FSMU on the common grain drill led to a desirable seeding rate at different forward speeds of the grain drill and stubble existence.

Review of precision rice hill-drop drilling technology and machine for paddy

Mechanized rice direct seeding is a cost-effective and efficient approach for rice cultivation.Recently,the use of rice direct seeding has been increasing rapidly owing to rural labour shortages and continuous increases in agricultural production costs.This article reviews the research and application progress of mechanized rice direct seeding including direct seeding technologies,precision rice seeding,precision rice seed-metering devices,key supporting agronomy technologies for mechanized rice direct seeding.South China Agricultural University developed precision rice hill-drop drilling(PRHDD)with synchronous furrowing and ridging technology and series machines for paddy that affords remarkable advantages in terms of saving time and labour,higher yield,and higher efficiency.In this approach,pre-germinated seeds are uniformly hill-dropped in the expected positions in puddled soil.It significantly improved the crop growth population and effectively solved the problems of high frequency of disease and pests caused by the irregular distribution of rice seeds with manual broadcasting,and generally reduces seed usage and increases the yield.Therefore,this technology has broad application prospects and great potential for promoting the development of mechanized rice direct seeding in China.

Design and experimental study of seed precise delivery mechanism for high-speed maize planter

Aiming at improving the seed spacing uniformity of maize planter at high forward speed,a seed precise delivery mechanism driven by electric motor has been developed and evaluated in laboratory.The mechanism was designed to deliver single seed from seed meter to furrow.Seed’s movement from the seed release point in a seed meter to the seed delivery cavity in the belt was analyzed,the mathematical model of seed movement in the seed precise delivery mechanism was established based on seed delivery time analysis.A mechanical prototype was designed and associated control system was developed.The performance contrast experiment was conducted between a traditional seed tube and newly developed seed precise delivery mechanism,and test results indicated that the qualities of feed index of the seed precise delivery mechanism were higher than those of the traditional seed tube delivery mechanism,and the coefficients of variation of the seed precise delivery mechanism were lower than those of the traditional seed tube delivery mechanism when the forward speed of planter was set at 10 km/h,12 km/h and 14 km/h,respectively.It indicated the seed precise delivery mechanism significantly improved seed spacing uniformity of maize planter compared with the traditional seed tube delivery mechanism.