Response of 10 Elite “Green Super Rice” Genotypes to Weed Infestation in Aerobic Rice Systems

Abstract

In recent years, water and labor shortage in Southeast Asia is driving the farmers towards dry-seeded rice systems. Weed infestation is a serious threat for adoption of these systems. A study was conducted in the wet and dry seasons to evaluate the performance of 10 elite “Green Super Rice” (a recently named group of rice genotypes bred for unfavorable marginal environments) genotypes at two different weed infestation levels (partial and moderate weed control) under dry-seeded conditions. Average yield loss due to weed competition in the partial weed control treatment ranged from 12 – 57% in the wet season and 2 – 23% in the dry season. In the partial weed control plots, the drought pyramiding genotype IR83140-B-11-B performed well, resulting in 2850 and 4610 kg ha–1 of yield in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. The yield loss of this genotype in the partial weed control plots relative to the moderate weed control plots was only 21% in the wet season and 10% in the dry season. Results clearly showed that grain yield in different genotypes were positively correlated with leaf area at an early stage of the crop. The study also found negative and linear correlation between grain yield and weed biomass at harvest, demonstrating the importance of weeds in dry-seeded rice systems. The study suggested that genotypes with a larger leaf area could be integrated with other weed management strategies to achieve sustainable weed control in dry-seeded rice systems.