Abstract
Drought is common under rainfed lowlands in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and with the uncertain onset of rains during the wet season, delay in transplanting results in yield reduction. This study aims to explore ways to ameliorate the negative influence of delayed transplanting on rice crop. A field experiment was conducted for two wet seasons to investigate the effect of seedling age and seedling density on crop performance in terms of grain yield and water productivity. The experiment was laid out in a split–split plot design in four replicates, with seedling age as the main plot, seedling density as the subplot, and varieties as the sub-sub plot. In both years, there were significant seedling age and variety interactions on grain yield. Higher grain yields were observed with older seedlings having stronger tillering propensity. Seedling density did not affect grain yields in both years, but on grain yield components. Shorter duration variety received less supplemental irrigation than longer duration varieties. Late transplanting improved total water productivity but decreased irrigation water productivity due to harvesting delay. The total crop growth duration (from sowing to maturity) was prolonged with transplanting delay. However, the total stay of plants in the main field (from transplanting to maturity) was reduced by 3–5 d for every 10 d delay in transplanting. The results indicated that a good selection of varieties and increasing seedling density improve crop performance and water productivity with delayed transplanting.
Highlights
Efficient water use in rice cultivation is a prerequisite to sustain food security for the rice-consuming population of the world
Grain yield was significantly influenced by the interaction of seedling age and variety and their interactions subjected to AWD conditions during the study
The effect of seedling age on grain yields largely depended on the variety used during the wet season in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR)
Summary
Efficient water use in rice cultivation is a prerequisite to sustain food security for the rice-consuming population of the world. In recent years, increasing water scarcity has been a major threat to rice production in Asia, where by 2025, about 15–20 million of irrigated rice is estimated to suffer [1]. If today’s food production and environmental trends continue, crises in many parts of the world will arise. Action should be taken to improve water use in agriculture to address severe water challenges for the 50 years [2]. Rice is a key staple in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) and is an important component of food security efforts in the country. Lao PDR has one of the world’s highest per capita consumption
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