Effects of Plant Spacing and Finger Sticking Area Settings for Machine Transplanting on Yield of Double-season Early Rice

The effects of rice transplanters＇ transplanting settings（plant spacing and finger sticking area） on rice yield were investigated in two early-season rice cultivars：hybrid rice cultivar（Zhuliangyou 819） and conventional rice cultivar（Zhongjiazao 17）.The results showed that,different transplanting settings resulted in different numbers of transplanted basic seedlings,and the rice yield was significantly correlated with the number of transplanted basic seedlings.The number of transplanted basic seedlings increased with the decrease of plant spacing and the increase of finger sticking area.The rate of lost hills of machine transplanting decreased with the increase of finger sticking area.The leaf area index and amount of dry matter accumulation were highly correlated with the number of transplanted basic seedlings.The average yield of the rice transplanted with a plant spacing of11.5 cm was higher than that with a plant spacing of 13.8 cm.In the field transplanted with the rice under the plant spacing of 13.8 cm,the rice yield increased with the increase of finger sticking area,and the finger sticking area of 2.23 cm2 showed the highest rice yield of 8 174.16 kg/hm2 of Zhuliangyou 819 and 7 925.54kg/hm2 of Zhongjiaozao17.In the field transplanted with the rice under the plant spacing of 11.5 cm,the rice yield was the highest with the finger sticking area of 1.83 cm2,and then decreased with the large finger sticking area.Under the plant spacing of 11.5 cm,the highest rice yields of Zhuliangyou 819 and Zhongjiaozao17 were 8 492.94 kg/hm2 and 8 000.23 kg/hm2,respectively.Therefore,the preferred machine transplanting settings for double-season early rice are a plant spacing of11.5 cm and a finger sticking area of 1.83 cm2,while the finger sticking area should be increased to 2.23 cm2 for conventional rice cultivars.

The underlying mechanism of variety–water–nitrogen–stubble damage interactions on yield formation in ratoon rice with low stubble height under mechanized harvesting

Agronomic measures are the key to promote the sustainable development of ratoon rice by reducing the damage from mechanical crushing to the residual stubble of the main crop, thereby mitigating the impact on axillary bud sprouting and yield formation in ratoon rice. This study used widely recommended conventional rice Jiafuzhan and hybrid rice Yongyou 2640 as the test materials to conduct a four-factor block design field experiment in a greenhouse of the experimental farm of Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, China from 2018 to 2019.The treatments included fertilization and no fertilization, alternate wetting and drying irrigation and continuous water flooding irrigation, and plots with and without artificial crushing damage on the rice stubble. At the same time, a 13C stable isotope in-situ detection technology was used to fertilize the pot experiment. The results showed significant interactions among varieties, water management, nitrogen application and stubble status.Relative to the long-term water flooding treatment, the treatment with sequential application of nitrogen fertilizer coupled with moderate field drought for root-vigor and tiller promotion before and after harvesting of the main crop, significantly improved the effective tillers from low position nodes. This in turn increased the effective panicles per plant and grains per panicle by reducing the influence of artificial crushing damage on rice stubble and achieving a high yield of the regenerated rice. Furthermore, the partitioning of 13C assimilates to the residual stubble and its axillary buds were significantly improved at the mature stage of the main crop, while the translocation rate to roots and rhizosphere soil was reduced at the later growth stage of ratooning season rice. This was triggered by the metabolism of hormones and polyamines at the stem base regulated by the interaction of water and fertilizer at this time. We therefore suggest that to achieve a high yield of ratoon rice with low stubble height under mechanized harvesting, the timely application of nitrogen fertilizer is fundamental,coupled with moderate field drying for root-vigor preservation and tiller promotion before and after the mechanical harvesting of the main crop.

Comparison of yield performance between direct-seeded and transplanted double-season rice using ultrashort-duration varieties in central China

Labor scarcity requires double-season rice to be planted by direct seeding as an alternative to transplanting. Only ultrashort-duration varieties can be used in direct-seeded, double-season rice(DSD) in central China where thermal time is limited. Whether ultrashort-duration varieties grown in DSD can be as productive and efficient in nitrogen(N) use as transplanted double-season rice(TPD) remains unclear. Field experiments were conducted in Hubei province, central China with two establishment methods(DSD,TPD) and three N rates in the early and late seasons of 2017 and 2018. Nitrogen treatments included zero-N control(N0), total N rate of 60 kg N ha;with equal splits at basal, midtillering, and panicle initiation(N1), and weekly N application at 15 kg ha;from seeding/transplanting to heading(N2). Both early-and late-season rice under DSD matured within 95 days, on average 9 days shorter than rice under TPD. The grain yield of DSD was comparable to or higher than that of TDP in both seasons, although the daily yield was significantly higher under DSD than under TDP. Before heading, DSD had higher leaf area,stem number, intercepted radiation, and radiation use efficiency than TPD, which compensated for the negative effect of short growth duration on biomass production. Total dry weight and harvest index under DSD were comparable to or higher than those under TDP. In general, the recovery efficiency of fertilizer-N under DSD was higher than that under TPD, but the reverse was true for physiological N use efficiency. Thus, there was no significant difference in agronomic N use efficiency between DSD and TPD. These results suggested that DSD with ultrashort-duration varieties is a promising alternative to TPD in central China for maintaining high grain yield and N fertilizer use efficiency with less labor input.

Grain yield and lodging-related traits of ultrashort-duration varieties for direct-seeded and double-season rice in Central China

Lodging is the most common constraint on grain yield of direct-seeded rice.There is limited information about lodging resistance and its related plant traits in direct-seeded and double-season rice(DDR)in Central China.This study aims to identify the plant traits that achieve high lodging resistance in ultrashort-duration varieties(about 95 days)of DDR.Field experiments were conducted in 2017 and 2018 in Wuxue County,Hubei Province,China,with four ultrashort-duration varieties grown under two nitrogen(N)rates.Lodging-related traits were measured on the 15 th day after heading,and yield and yield attributes were measured at maturity.The grain yield of the four varieties ranged from 4.59 to 7.61 t ha^(-1)across the two N rates,with a total growth duration of 85 to 97 days.Varietal differences in lodging index were mainly explained by the bending moment,which was closely related to plant height.Breaking resistance did not affect the lodging index significantly.Shortening plant height from 95.4 to 80.5 cm decreased the lodging index by 22.4%but did not reduce grain yield.Our results suggested that reducing plant height was effective in improving the lodging resistance of ultrashort-duration varieties of DDR.Lodging resistance should be enhanced by improving breaking resistance rather than reducing plant height to increase DDR grain yield further.

Grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency of an ultrashort-duration variety grown under different nitrogen and seeding rates in direct-seeded and double-season rice in Central China

Nitrogen(N) and seeding rates are important factors affecting grain yield and N use efficiency(NUE) in directseeded rice. However, these factors have not been adequately investigated on direct-seeded and double-season rice(DDR) in Central China. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of various N and seeding rates on the grain yield and NUE of an ultrashort-duration variety grown under DDR. Field experiments were conducted in 2018 in Wuxue County and 2019 in Qichun County, Hubei Province, China with four N rates and three seeding rates.The results showed that the grain yield of the ultrashort-duration variety ranged from 6.32 to 8.23 t ha–1with a total growth duration of 85 to 97 days across all treatments with N application. Grain yield was increased significantly by N application in most cases, but seeding rate had an inconsistent effect on grain yield. Furthermore, the response of grain yield to the N rates was much higher than the response to seeding rates. The moderate N rates of 100–150 and 70–120 kg N ha–1in the early and late seasons, respectively, could fully express the yield potential of the ultrashort-duration variety grown under DDR. Remarkably higher N responses and agronomic NUE levels were achieved in the early-season rice compared with the late-season rice due to the difference in indigenous soil N supply capacity(INS) between the two seasons. Seasonal differences in INS and N response should be considered when crop management practices are optimized for achieving high grain yield and NUE in ultrashort-duration variety grown under DDR.

Molecular Mechanism of Rice Necrotic Lesion for Optimized Yield and Disease Resistance

How to balance rice resistance and yield is an important issue in rice breeding.Plants with mutated necrotic lesion genes often have persistent broad-spectrum resistance,but this broad-spectrum resistance usually comes at the expense of yield.Currently,many necrotic lesion mutants in rice have been identified,and these genes are involved in disease resistance pathways.This review provides a detailed introduction to the characteristics,classification,and molecular mechanisms of necrotic lesion formation.Additionally,we review the molecular regulatory pathways of genes involved in rice disease resistance.Concurrently,we summarize the relationship between resistance and yield in rice using newly developed gene editing methods.We discuss a rational and precise breeding strategy to better utilize molecular design technology for breeding disease-resistant and high-yield rice varieties.

Integrated assessment of yield,nitrogen use efficiency and ecosystem economic benefits of use of controlled-release and common urea in ratoon rice production

Controlled-release urea(CRU)is commonly used to improve the crop yield and nitrogen use efficiency(NUE).However,few studies have investigated the effects of CRU in the ratoon rice system.Ratoon rice is the practice of obtaining a second harvest from tillers originating from the stubble of the previously harvested main crop.In this study,a 2-year field experiment using a randomized complete block design was conducted to determine the effects of CRU on the yield,NUE,and economic benefits of ratoon rice,including the main crop,to provide a theoretical basis for fertilization of ratoon rice.The experiment included four treatments:(i)no N fertilizer(CK);(ii)traditional practice with 5 applications of urea applied at different crop growth stages by surface broadcasting(FFP);(iii)one-time basal application of CRU(BF1);and(iv)one-time basal application of CRU combined with common urea(BF2).The BF1 and BF2 treatments significantly increased the main crop yield by 17.47 and 15.99%in 2019,and by 17.91 and 16.44%in 2020,respectively,compared with FFP treatment.The BF2 treatment achieved similar yield of the ratoon crop to the FFP treatment,whereas the BF1 treatment significantly increased the yield of the ratoon crop by 14.81%in 2019 and 12.21%in 2020 compared with the FFP treatment.The BF1 and BF2 treatments significantly improved the 2-year apparent N recovery efficiency,agronomic NUE,and partial factor productivity of applied N by 11.47-16.66,27.31-44.49,and 9.23-15.60%,respectively,compared with FFP treatment.The BF1 and BF2 treatments reduced the chalky rice rate and chalkiness of main and ratoon crops relative to the FFP treatment.Furthermore,emergy analysis showed that the production efficiency of the BF treatments was higher than that of the FFP treatment.The BF treatments reduced labor input due to reduced fertilization times and improved the economic benefits of ratoon rice.Compared with the FFP treatment,the BF1 and BF2 treatments increased the net income by 14.21-16.87 and 23.76-25.96%,respectively.Overall,the one-time blending use of CRU and common urea should be encouraged to achieve high yield,high nitrogen use efficiency,and good quality of ratoon rice,which has low labor input and low apparent N loss.

Assessing the yield difference of double-cropping rice in South China driven by radiation use efficiency

Double-cropping rice in South China continues to break the total yield record,but the yield potential of singlecropping rice is not being realized.Radiation use efficiency(RUE)has been singled out as an important determinant of grain yield in many cereal species.However,there is no information on whether the yield gaps in doublecropping rice involve differences in RUE.Field experiments were performed over two years to evaluate the effects of intercepted radiation(IP)and RUE on the above-ground biomass production,crop growth rate(CGR),and harvest index(HI),in four representative rice varieties,i.e.,Xiangyaxiangzhan(XYXZ),Meixiangzhan 2(MXZ2),Nanjingxiangzhan(NJXZ),and Ruanhuayoujinsi(RHYJS),during the early and late seasons of rice cultivation in South China.The results revealed that grain yield in the early season was 8.2%higher than in the late season.The yield advantage in the early season was primarily due to higher spikelets per panicle and above-ground biomass resulting from a higher RUE.The spikelets per panicle in the early season were 6.5,8.3,6.9,and 8.5%higher in XYXZ,MXZ2,NJXZ,and RHYJS,respectively,than in the late season.The higher early season grain yield was more closely related to RUE in the middle tillering stage(R^(2)=0.34),panicle initiation(R^(2)=0.16),and maturation stage(R^(2)=0.28),and the intercepted photosynthetically active radiation(IPAR)in the maturation stage(R^(2)=0.28),while the late season grain yield was more dependent on IPAR in the middle tillering stage(R^(2)=0.31)and IPAR at panicle initiation(R^(2)=0.23).The results of this study conclusively show that higher RUE contributes to the yield progress of early season rice,while the yield improvement of late season rice is attributed to higher radiation during the early reproductive stage.Rationally allocating the RUE of double-cropping rice with high RUE varieties or adjustments of the sowing period merits further study.

Enriching Iodine and Regulating Grain Aroma,Appearance Quality,and Yield in Aromatic Rice by Foliar Application of Sodium Iodide

Applying iodine fertilizers to cultivate iodine-rich crops for daily intake is an effective approach for iodine supplementation,especially for aromatic rice.Field experiments were conducted during the early growing seasons of 2021 and 2022 to evaluate the impacts of foliar application of iodine fertilizer on aromatic rice and to explore the optimal iodine fertilizer concentration.At the full heading stage,six different concentrations of sodium iodide solutions of 0%(CK),0.010%(T1),0.025%(T2),0.050%(T3),0.075%(T4),and 0.100%(T5)were applied to indica aromatic rice cultivars Meixiangzhan 2 and Xiangyaxiangzhan.The results showed that sodium iodide treatments significantly increased the iodine and sodium contents in both leaves and grains.Compared with the CK,the T1 and T2 treatments increased the 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline(2-AP)content in mature grains by 8.41%-101.66%and 13.58%-74.60%,respectively.Improvements in the contents of 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylic acid,proline,1-pyrroline,and methylglyoxal,as well as the activity of proline dehydrogenase were also detected.Additionally,sodium iodide treatments remarkably decreased the chalky grain rate,chalkiness area,and chalkiness degree of aromatic rice,with the T2 treatment exhibiting a 17.79%-47.42%decrease in chalkiness degree compared with the CK.Meanwhile,T1 and T2 treatments showed beneficial impacts on chlorophyll content,photosynthetic characteristics,and yield components,while T3,T4,and T5 treatments exhibited adverse effects on leaf and grain yields.The linear discriminant analysis revealed significant differences between treatments.The correlation analysis and piecewise structural equation modeling showed that the iodine and sodium influenced the photosynthetic characteristics and chlorophyll content of the leaves,thereby regulating the 2-AP biosynthesis and yield components,ultimately affecting the 2-AP content and yield.Overall,this study suggests that foliar application of 0.025%sodium iodide is an effective method to enrich the iodine content in rice grains,improve the grain aroma and appearance quality of aromatic rice,without detrimental effects on grain yield.

Optimized tillage methods increase mechanically transplanted rice yield and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions

Biaxia lrotary tillage in dryland(DBRT)can complete biaxial rotary tillage with straw incorporation,secondary suppression,and ditching,and it has been previously studied in direct-seeded rice and wheat.However,the effects of DBRT on the mechanically transplanted rice yield and greenhouse gas emissions remain unclear.To evaluate the effects of DBRT on improving the food security of mechanically transplanted rice and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions,we conducted an experiment for two years with wheat straw incorporation.Three tillage methods were set up:DBRT,uniaxial rotary tillage in dryland and paddy(DPURT),and uniaxial rotary tillage in paddy(PURT).The results showed that compared with DPURT and PURT,DBRT increased the yield of machine-transplanted rice by 7.5-11.0%and 13.3-26.7%,respectively,while the seasonal cumulative CH_(4) emissions were reduced by 13.9-21.2%and 30.2-37.0%,respectively,and the seasonal cumulative N_(2)O emissions were increased by 13.5-28.6%and 50.0-73.1%,respectively.Consequently,DBRT reduced the global warming potential by 10.7-15.5%and 23.7-28.6%,respectively,andtheyield-scaledglobalwarmingpotentialby18.2-21.8%and36.4-39.3%,respectively,compared to DPURT and PURT.These results were mainly related to the fact that DBRT significantly reduced soil bulk density and increased soil redox potential(Eh).Therefore,implementing DBRT in machine-transplanted rice fields is feasible,which cannot only increase the rice yield,but also reduce the greenhouse gas emissions.

A novel Effective Panicle Number per Plant 4 haplotype enhances grain yield by coordinating panicle number and grain number in rice

Increasing effective panicle number per plant(EPN)is one approach to increase yield potential in rice.However,molecular mechanisms underlying EPN remain unclear.In this study,we integrated mapbased cloning and genome-wide association analysis to identify the EPN4 gene,which is allelic to NARROW LEAF1(NAL1).Overexpression lines containing the Teqing allele(TQ)of EPN4 had significantly increased EPN.NIL-EPN4^(TQ) in japonica(geng)cultivar Lemont(LT)exhibited significantly improved EPN but decreased grain number and flag leaf size relative to LT.Haplotype analysis indicated that accessions with EPN4-1 had medium EPN,medium grain number,and medium grain weight,but had the highest grain yield among seven haplotypes,indicating that EPN4-1 is an elite haplotype of EPN4 for positive coordination of the three components of grain yield.Furthermore,accessions carrying the combination of EPN4-1 and haplotype GNP1-6 of GNP1 for grain number per panicle showed higher grain yield than those with other allele combinations.Therefore,pyramiding of EPN4-1 and GNP1-6 could be a preferred approach to obtain high yield potential in breeding.

Effects of Applying Organic Fertilizer on Rice Lodging Resistance and Yield

[Objective]The aim was to provide a scientific basis for the reasonable application of organic fertilizer to improve lodging resistance and yield of rice.[Method]The application of four different kinds of organic fertilizer was applied to study their effects on rice lodging resistance and yield of late rice Yuzhengxiang that with high quality.[Result] The effect of applying organic fertilizer for improving rice lodging resistance capability was:biogas residues> chicken manure > rapeseed cake> tobac...

Effects of Different Planting Patterns on Rice Yield and Economic Benefit

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the effects of cultivation methods on rice yield and economic benefits in the Dongting Lake area. [Method] A field plot experiment was conducted by adopting three different planting patterns of artificial sowing, artificial throwing and mechanical transplanting. [Result] Rice yield of mechanical transplanting was 7.84% and 24.19% higher respectively than that of artificial sowing and artificial throwing. The effective panicles per unit area of mechanical transplanting and artificial throwing were less than that of artificial sowing. On the contrary, grains per spike, 1 000-grain weight and seed setting rate of mechanical transplanting and artificial throwing were less than those of artificial sowing. Mechanical transplanting of rice brought the highest net income 11 779.16 yuan/hm2, which was 1 697.72 and 3 631.84 yuan/hm2 higher than that of artificial throwing and artificial sowing. [Conclusion] Mechanical transplanting could promote rice productivity in Dongting Lake area, and could increase rice yields and economic returns.

Relationship between Grain Yield and Yield Components of Various Rice Cultivars

[Objective] The relationship between grain yield and yield components was investigated in .different rice cultivars at the target yield of 10.5-11.25 t/hm2, to provide theoretical basis for cultivation of high-yield rice. [Method] The yield performance of various super rice and non-super rice cultivars that were cultivated in large area in Sichuan Chengdu was studied under high-yielding cultivation conditions from 2006 to 2008. [Result] The rice yield was closely correlated with the productive panicle number, grain number per panicle, seed setting rate and 1 000-grain weight. The four yield components showed different influences on the yield of different rice culti- vars. By adopting the high yielding cultivation technology （that the seedlings were planted in a triangle shape） at the target yield of 10.5-11.25 t/hm~, we found that the rice yield of super rice cultivars was closely correlated with productive panicle number and 1 000-grain weight, negatively correlated with grain number per panicle, and significantly negatively correlated with seed setting rate; the grain yield of non- super rice cultivars was negatively correlated with grain number per panicle and seed setting rate, and significantly negatively correlated with the productive panicle number and 1 000-grain weight. [Conclusion] The results revealed the relationship between grain yield and yield components in different rice cultivars, which provided references for developing reasonable cultivation measures and thus to improve the yield of super rice in large acreage.

Field Experiment for the Effects of Rice Straw Returning and Seeding Pattern on Wheat Seedling Emergence and Grain Yield

In order to study the effect of rice straw returning and seeding patterns on seedling emergence and grain yield, field experiment was conducted to investi- gate the effects of straw mechanized returning and different seeding patterns on e- mergence rate, emergence uniformity and yield traits of wheat after rice. The results were as follows： in rice straw removal treatments, the emergence rate of mechani- cal seeding in drill was lower than that of mechanical uniform planting and manual broadcast sowing, which were 51.84%, 90.89% and 88.87%, respectively; the emer- gence uniformity of manual broadcast sowing was inferior to mechanical seeding in drill and mechanical uniform planting, which were 0.49, 0.26 and 0.23, respectively. As for the treatments with rice straw returning to the field, the emergence rate and emergence uniformity all decreased in the three seeding patterns, of which mechan- ical seeding in drill dropped markedly with emergence rate decreased by 36.54%. The emergence rate and emergence uniformity affected grain yield by affecting pan- icle, grains per spike and 1 000-grain weight. The grain yield for the treatment with rice straw removal was 6 091.34 kg/hm2, while that with rice straw returning to field was 6 476.20 kg/hm2, and both were higher than the yields of the other two seed- ing patterns. Therefore, mechanical uniform planting was？recommended for its higher emergence rate, better emergence uniformity, which was conductive to increase grain yield in wheat after rice production with rice straw returning to field.

Effect of Reducing Chemical Fertilizer on Rice Yield,Output Value,Content of Soil Carbon and Nitrogen after Utilizing the Milk Vetch

A located field experiment was carried out to study the effects of different amount of chemical fertilizer usage on rice yield,economic benefits of rice,soil carbon（C） and total nitrogen（TN） under ploughing back of Chinese milk vetch for 5consecutive years.Six treatments were included in the experiment,they are CK（unfertilized）,CF（100% chemical fertilizer with the amount of N,P2O5,K2 O being150,75,120 kg/hm^2respectively）,A1（22 500 kg/hm^2 Chinese milk vetch and 100%chemical fertilizer）,A2（Chinese milk vetch and 80% nitrogen and potassium fertilizer and 100% phosphate fertilizer）,A3（Chinese milk vetch and 60% nitrogen and potassium fertilizer and 100% phosphate fertilizer）,A4（Chinese milk vetch and 40% nitrogen and potassium fertilizer and 100% phosphate fertilizer）.The results were as follows：application of fertilizer could increase the yield of rice,while Chinese milk vetch combined with fertilizer application had a much more increase effect in rice yield.Under the condition of milk vetch application with 22 500 kg/hm^2,the early rice yield of the treatment A1 was significantly increased by 7.7% compared with that of CF.And the yield of treatment A3 was basically identical to or slight increase in comparison with that of CF.Decreasing amount of fertilizers cloud improve output value of rice in the case of the utilization of Chinese milk vetch.The treatment A1 increased output value of rice by 5.92% in comparison of CF,and treatment A2 was by 4.08% in the next.Treatment A4 showed much better effect in increasing soil organic carbon and total nitrogen in the paddy soil than those of treatments applying mineral fertilizer only.There was a significant reduction on soil organic carbon and TN in treatment A2 in comparison with that of CF.In general,amount of application of milk vetch with 22 500 kg/hm^2 could replace chemical fertilizer partially,it also could improve rice yield,decrease the production cost,and raise the utilization efficiency of nutrients.

Effects of Tiller-inhibitor on Growth and Yield Formation of Super Early Hybrid Rice Jinyou458

[Objective]The paper was to study the effect of tiller-inhibitor on the growth and yield formation of super early rice Jinyou 458.[Method] Two treatments including spraying tiller-inhibitor（TI） and spraying water（CK） at the SN-n stage were set in the test,the effect of tiller-inhibitor on yield and its components,leaf and plant morphology,field microclimate at booting stage and quality characteristics of rice population were studied.[Result] Spraying tiller-inhibitor could effectively reduce the occurrence of invalid and inefficient tillers,increase the proportion of high effective tillers（tiller with 4 or more leaves） in tiller composition at the maximal tiller stage.The panicle length,spikelets per panicle,spikelets density,number of secondary branches and the secondary spikelets,seed setting rate of rice plant sprayed with tiller-inhibitor were significantly higher than CK.Meanwhile,spraying tiller-inhibitor could increase plant height,biomass weight and leaf area index of rice population during middle and late stages of rice growing,improve the leaf temperature of top three leaves and the light transmittance of rice population at the booting stage,increase the leaf SPAD value,thus enhance photosynthetic capacity of rice plants.It also showed the characteristics of elongating the internode of rice plant and decreasing the stem thickness,etc.[Conclusion] The panicle-bearing rate of stems and tillers,effective panicles,spikelets per panicle,seed setting rate and 1 000-grain weight had coordinately increased after spraying tiller-inhibitor,thus increased the yield.

Effect of Transplanting Density on Rice Yield,Nitrogen Uptake and ^(15)N-fertilizer Fate

[Objective] The aim of this study was investigated the rice yield, nitrogen uptake and ^15-fertilizer fate at different transplanting density to provide scientific ba- sis for improving the yield of rice and applying reasonably fertilizer. [Method] A field experiment was carried out to study the effect of different transplanting density on rice yield, nitrogen （N） absorption, sources of N uptake by rice and the N balance in the plant-soil systems by using ^15-labelled urea. [Result] There were no significant differences in rice yields and total N uptakes by rice between treatments 30 cm × 30 cm and 40 cm × 40 cm, but the yield of rice and total N absorption in the two treatments were remarkably higher than those in 50 cm × 50 cm treatment. The amounts of total N uptake by rice were in the range of 112.3-162.7 kg/hm2 in the three transplanting densities. The result showed that about 1/3 of the total N uptake by rice was supplied by application fertilizer and the other 2/3 was obtained from the soil N pool. The ^15N-labelled urea absorbed by rice, residual in soil and lost accounted for 16.3%-26.1%, 17.0%-20.9% and 53.0%-66.7% of the total fertilizer, respectively. A great deal of ^15N-labelled urea was lost during the rice growing season. [Conclusion] Considering the rice yield and environmental protection, the transplanting density of 30 cm×30 cm was recommended in the hilly area of Sichuan basin in the southwest China.

Cadmium Accumulation and Yield Difference of Different Rice Varieties under Cadmium Stress

The cadmium （Cd） contents in rice plants and Cd accumulation in different parts of rice under Cd stress were studied to screen out Cd-highly tolerant and high-yield rice varieties. With different vadeties of japonica and indica rice as the research objects, Cd contents and Cd accumulation of different rice varieties in harvest time were discussed by pot experiment, under two treatments of no adding Cd and Cd stress. Under both the two treatments, the Cd contents in different parts of rice all ranked as root〉stem〉leaf〉husk〉grain, and Cd was manly concentrated in dce roots. Cd accumulation and distribution differed among different rice varieties, especially among grains of different rice varieties. Among the 8 rice varieties, the increase of grain Cd content of Chunyou 84 was the smallest, indicating a weaker Cd accumulation ability. At the same time, the Cd accumulation in japonica rice was higher than that in indica rice under Cd stress. Under Cd stress, the yield of indica rice decreased significantly, while that of japonica rice increased. The lowest grain Cd content of Chunyou 84 indicated significant Cd tolerance. Although its yield was affected, it can still be recommended to be promoted in the Cd-polluted region of Hunan Province, considering the Cd security.

Characteristics of Retoon Rice Yield Components and Relationship of the Characteristics with Rate of Bud Emergence and Root Activity

[Objective] The aim was to study on characteristics of retoon rice yield components, and relationship of the characteristics with born bud rate and root ac- tivity of retoon rice before harvesting. [Method] Eighteen mid-season hybrid rice va- rieties approved recently were taken as materials in high-yield cultivation conditions. Characteristics of retoon rice yield components were analyzed, and relationship of yield components characteristics with the rate of bud emergence and root activity of retoon rice before harvesting was explored, based on related data. [Result] Highly- yielding retoon rice is characterized by high effective ear number （Xl） and high set- ting percentage （X4）; the number of germinated shoots the 5^＊ d after first-batch rice was cut is a key factor for retoon rice yield and was of positive correlation with re- toon rice seedlings and effective ears, with correlation coefficients at 0.80^＊＊ and 0.76^＊＊. In addition, bleeding sap was of positive correlation with grain number and setting percentage of retoon rice and correlation coefficients were 0.50^＊ and 0.48^＊＊, and of positive correlation with average panicle weight, with correlation coefficient at 0.63. [Conclusion] It is an effective way for the rate of bud emergence and root activity at lar ecological zones. mproving retoon rice yield to increase harvesting in the test sites and simi lar ecological zones.