Abstract
Vermicompost is an excellent organic fertilizer, but the application of vermicompost in fragrant rice production has not yet been reported. Seedling nursery is an important component of rice production. The present study firstly applied vermicompost in fragrant rice production through nursery raising. The seedlings of three fragrant rice cultivars were raised in matrix with different rations of vermicompost (the treatment without vermicompost was taken as the control), and the growth parameters and physiological characters of seedlings were investigated. The results showed that, compared with the control, the application of vermicompost significantly (p < 0.05) increased the plant height, stem diameter, fresh weight, and dry weight of fragrant rice seedlings by 11.22–24.73%, 38.34–65.87%, 16.74–30.46%, and 16.61–35.16%, respectively. Nursery raising with vermicompost significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the net photosynthetic rate by 5.99–12.93%, relative to the control. Higher contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, and total chlorophyll were recorded in vermicompost treatments than in the control. Compared with the control, vermicompost treatments also increased root length, surface area, mean diameter, root volume, root tip number, and root activity of fragrant rice seedlings by 12.42–27.82%, 15.04–38.65%, 12.64–23.12%, 42.41–63.58%, 18.62–24.95%, and 12.01–26.29%, respectively. Moreover, nursery raising with vermicompost enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide, peroxidase, and catalase by 7.97–24.21%, 17.11–44.99%, and 7.37–15.95%, respectively, relative to the control. Moreover, 7.92–29.40% lower malondialdehyde contents were recorded in vermicompost treatments compared with the control. Therefore, nursery raising with vermicompost could be a good agronomy practice in machine-transplanted fragrant rice.
Highlights
Rice is the main staple food in Asia [1]
The application of vermicompost increased the biomass of fragrant rice seedlings
The present study showed that vermicompost application substantially increased the contents of photosynthetic pigments including chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids, and improved the net photosynthetic rate
Summary
Rice is the main staple food in Asia [1]. In order to feed the growing population, the productivity of rice must exceed current levels [2]. Because of rapid economic growth, the labor availability for agricultural production has declined [3], traditional rice cultivation with manual transplanting is not suitable for China and many other regions anymore because of the high labor consumption [4]. Mechanical transplanting is a technology that is simple and incurs less labor costs in rice production. Rice seeds are raised in nursery trays filled with matrix, and the seedlings are transplanted into a paddy field by compatible machinery [5]. “Pot-raised seedling” is a type of seedling raising in machine-transplanted rice production, which sows rice seeds in a bowl-shaped tray, and the holes on the tray ensure the relatively independent growth space of the
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