Characteristics of Growth, Yield and Quality of Rice in Submerged Direct Seeding in the Late Season in Southern Japan

Abstract

In 2001 and 2002, characteristics of growth, yield and quality of rice in submerged direct seeding in the late season were compared with those of rice direct seeded in the regular season to establish the method of late-seeding culture in southern Japan. Compared with the plants seeded in the regular season, late-seeded plants showed reduced elongation of stem and leaf, but grew rapidly from the panicle differentiation stage to full heading, and produced an equivalent amount of dry matter during the ripening period. The high yield was suggested to have resulted from the increased number of spikelets per m², which was caused by the increased panicle number due to vigorous tilleration and increased nitrogen uptake in the vegetative lag phase. According to the criteria we established for selecting varieties, the yield of Dontokoi, Fukuizumi, Saikai242 and Saikai244 was higher than that of the control variety Hinohikari. Among them, however, only Fukuizumi met the standard in all the indices.