Abstract
Flash flood or submergence is a common phenomenon in rice growing rainfed lowland areas that seriously affects crop establishment leading to severe yield losses. A few submergence-tolerant rice varieties have been developed by introgressing SUB1 gene into mega rice varieties of South Asia. Two of these, Swarna-Sub1 and Sambha Mahsuri-Sub1, are already released in India for the commercial cultivation. Performance of these varieties can be further enhanced through adoption of appropriate management practices both in nursery and in main field. Two on-station field experiments were conducted using Swarna-Sub1 during the wet season (kharif) of 2011 at Rice Research Station, Chinsurah, Hooghly, West Bengal (India). Results of these experiments revealed that the use of lower seeding density (25 g m-2), application of balanced doses of N-P2O5-K2O @ 80-40-40 kg ha-1 in nursery and transplanting of aged seedlings (44 days) significantly improved plant survival, yield attributing traits and grain yield. An additional N-dose of 20 kg ha-1 at 7 days after receding of flood water resulted in better post-submergence recovery and maximum grain yield. In the on-farm trials conducted at three different locations in West Bengal, nursery raising of seedlings with the application of N-P2O5-K2O @ 80-40-40 kg ha-1, transplanting them at an optimum age (35 days) and application of 20 kg·N ha-1 after 7 days of de-submergence produced maximum grain yield of Swarna-Sub1.
Highlights
Rice is the major staple food for more than half of the world population and 90% of it is being produced and consumed in Asia
The average rice productivity of submergence-prone areas in eastern India is 0.5 - 0.8 tonnes (t) ha−1, whereas it is about 2.0 t ha−1 for favourable rainfed lowlands, being much lower than the input-intensive irrigated system (5.0 t ha−1)
Significant effect of seed density was observed on all the yield components of Swarna-Sub1 (Table 5); days to 50% flowering and days to maturity did not show any significant variation due to treatment effects (Figure 2(a))
Summary
Rice is the major staple food for more than half of the world population and 90% of it is being produced and consumed in Asia. Flash flood or submergence is a common phenomenon in mainly lowland areas, subject to monsoon rains, seriously affecting crop establishment as well as survival, leading to severe yield losses. It imposes a complex abiotic stress in flood-prone ecosystem, because it substantially reduces crop stand, especially if it occurs during early vegetative stage and prolongs for more than a week [2]. The average rice productivity of submergence-prone areas in eastern India is 0.5 - 0.8 tonnes (t) ha−1, whereas it is about 2.0 t ha−1 for favourable rainfed lowlands, being much lower than the input-intensive irrigated system (5.0 t ha−1). About 30% of the rice growing area in this state
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