2009 Volume 78 Issue 2 Pages 153-162
In our country, the work of raising seedlings and transplantation occupies one-quarter of the working hours for growing rice. Introduction of direct seeding culture is expected to reduce the cost and labor for rice farming. However, direct seeding culture is not widespread and is used for only about 1% of the land for rice cultivation. The main reason is thought to be the unstable seedling emergence after direct seeding. In this paper, studies on the factors related to seedling emergence and establishment including the effect of drainage after seeding, the field conditions required for efficient drainage after seeding, the effects of calcium-peroxide and iron-coating of seeds and seed pretreatment, the meteorological conditions after seeding, the characteristics necessary for excellent seedling emergence and its use for breeding, and the sugar metabolism in the seed related to seedling emergence are reviewed. The direction of future research is also discussed.
