Abstract
The “super rice” breeding program in China has been successful in developing high-yielding hybrids, including few with high harvest index values. However, there is limited information on the relationship between lodging resistance and harvest index, and the mechanisms underlying the relationship in super-rice hybrids. In this study, a two-year field experiment was conducted to compare lodging resistance and its related traits between two super-rice hybrids differing in harvest index, i.e., Guiliangyou 2 (G2) with a high harvest index and Y-liangyou 1 (Y1) with a typical harvest index of modern high-yielding rice varieties. Results showed that compared to Y1, G2 was lower in plant height due to its lower aboveground N uptake, and its higher stem breaking resistance (i.e., lower stem breaking index) resulted from a lower stem height at its center of gravity. Consequently, G2 had a higher lodging resistance (i.e., lower plant lodging index) than Y1. This study suggests that developing super-rice hybrids with high harvest index values is a possible way to achieve both high grain yield and strong lodging resistance in rice.
Highlights
Self-sufficiency in rice (Oryza sativa L.) production is important to ensure food security in China, where approximately 65% of the population consumes rice as a staple food [1]
3.1 Harvest Index, Aboveground Biomass, and Grain Yield The differences in harvest index and aboveground biomass were significant between Guiliangyou 2 (G2) and Y-liangyou 1 (Y1) (Tab. 1)
The harvest index was 10% higher in G2 than in Y1
Summary
Self-sufficiency in rice (Oryza sativa L.) production is important to ensure food security in China, where approximately 65% of the population consumes rice as a staple food [1]. China’s production of rice is currently self-sufficient, developments to further increase rice yields from existing or even declining arable lands is crucial to feed the growing population sustainably [2,3] To achieve this goal, China initiated a national program in 1996 to develop “super rice” based on the ideotype concept [4]. Limited reports are available on whether these enlargements of traits in super-rice hybrids result in a topheavy plant with a higher center of gravity, and a plant more susceptible to lodging To address these knowledge gaps, the present study compared characteristics of lodging resistance between two super-rice hybrids differing in harvest index
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