It is considered that there are three phases of decreasing yield in rice plant caused by strong wind; one is occurrence of atrophied kernels at a time before the heading, second is ill effect to fertilization and development of the grains at or near the heading time, and the last is shattering loss at later ripening stage. On the former two there are many reports by various authers (11, 6, 9, 10, 12 and etc.) but on the last little reports.
This investigation was made for clarifying the effect of different wind speed and that of stages after the heading and position of the grains on shattering in rice plant. Norin no. 29 cultured in pot were used in this experiment. Wind treatment were made in a wind tunnel in our institute. And following results were obtained.
1) When the plants were exposed to various wind velocity (6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 metre per second) for five hours at the full ripening stage after seven weeks from the heading, there was obtained no grain shattered in the treatment of 9m/s. or weaker wind speed, 0.3 percent of grain shattered at 12m/s., and the percentage increased quickly for increasing wind speed. On the other hand, breaking type lodging were also increased for increasing wind speed, and the shattered grains in lodged plants was less than that in non-lodged plants. Therefore, it seems the most shattering loss in rice plant occurs at the wind speed of about 15 metre per second.
2) From the treatment of 15m/s. of wind for five hours at different stages after the heading, the following result was abtained. Shattering grains was not occurred just at the heading stage, but it started at one week after the heading, and the maximum loss of shattering of about 40 percent was found in the treatment at four weeks after the heading. The present authors had supposed that the shattering would increase according the degree of ripening, but the result was not so. Although no accurate reasons can be found for this result, owing to the lack of any reliable data, it seems to have some relation with change of lodging resistance in rice plants.
3) The grains on upper part of the head were easiest to be shattered, and the reasons are due not only to wide vibration or severe fluttering of the upper part of the head but also weaker tensile strength or resistance to the shattering.
4) The results suggest some prevention methods against shattering loss causing by strong wind. Three of effective methods decreasing loss due to shattering will be: (1) construct windbreaks or hedges to decrease wind speed over rice fields: (2) make the strong resistance varieties by breeding and (3) break down the plants artificially in order to decrease the vibration of head just before the time of a typhoon attack. The last should be applied to only plants in full ripening stage.
View full abstract