Paddy Field Conditions Research Articles

Assessing Irrigation Efficiency Improvements in Paddy Fields Using Granular SWMM Simulations

As water scarcity intensifies due to climate change, improving the efficiency of agricultural water use has become increasingly critical. Current irrigation systems often experience significant water losses, especially in paddy fields in South Korea that largely rely on open-channel water supply networks. However, previous studies have simulated irrigation improvement strategies by aggregating multiple paddy fields into larger unites rather than modeling them individually, which limits the accurate representation of field conditions. To address this limitation, we applied a granular simulation approach, collecting detailed input data through field surveys. Using this granular model, the study evaluated strategies to enhance irrigation efficiency in paddy fields serviced by the Baekma Agricultural Reservoir in South Korea. We assessed four scenarios: the current open-channel system, conversion of open channels to closed conduits, installation of farm ponds, and a combination of closed conduits and farm ponds. These scenarios were simulated using the Strom Water Management Model (SWMM), meticulously configured to represent individual paddy fields and channel networks. The results show that converting open channels to closed conduits increased irrigation efficiency by 5.4% compared to the current open-channel system. Combining closed conduits with farm ponds achieved the highest efficiency, although the independent effect of farm ponds was minimal. These findings suggested that converting open-channels to closed conduits was a highly effective solution for reducing water losses, while farm ponds played a limited role. This study provides valuable insights into the development of precise irrigation strategies, offering a detailed assessment of real-world conditions in paddy fields.

Field performance and nitrous oxide emissions of transgenic nitrogen use efficient rice lines cultivated in tropical paddy fields.

Nitrogen (N) fertilizers make up the majority of the input used in rice production, and their excess application leads to significant environmental pollution. Developing rice varieties with improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is essential to maintain the sustainability of rice production. This study aims to evaluate the performance of transgenic Oryza sativa japonica cv. Kitaake expressing the barley (Hordeum vulgare) alanine aminotransferase (HvAlaAT) gene in response to different levels of N fertilizer application under tropical paddy field conditions. Results from this study demonstrate that transgenic nitrogen use efficient Kitaake rice (Kitaake NUE) displays a grain yield increase of up to 41% compared to Kitaake null. Transgenic Kitaake NUE expressing the HvAlaAT gene displays a higher N uptake and achieves a higher nitrogen use efficiency compared to control plants while maintaining lower nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes. The reduction in N2O emissions in Kitaake NUE compared to Kitaake null ranges from 37.5 to 96.3%. The transgenic Kitaake NUE used in this study has potential as a donor to improve the nitrogen use efficiency of indica rice for better adaptability to tropical conditions.

Identification of bioactive compounds in cavalcade leaves for nematicidal activity against Hirschmanniella mucronata and Meloidogyne graminicola using LC-QTOF-MS

Hirschmanniella mucronata and Meloidogyne graminicola are the main plant-parasitic nematodes found in paddy fields in Thailand causing significant rice production yield losses. Although these nematodes are found widely in fields, an effective management method has not been documented. Here, we examined the nematicidal effects of different cavalcade leaf ages (1-, 2- and 3-month-old), used as aqueous extracts and soil amendments, on H. mucronata and M. graminicola. In vitro tests evidenced maximum mortality of H. mucronata (55.6–60.0%) in 50 mg ml−1 extract from all leaf ages, while mortality (65.9%) and hatchability (67.0%) of M. graminicola second-stage juveniles were observed in 50 mg ml−1 extract from 1-month-old leaves only. Moreover, aqueous extracts of cavalcade showed a repellent effect on both nematodes. Similarly, greenhouse experiments showed a significant reduction of H. mucronata population densities and reproduction of M. graminicola in soil amended with 0.5 and 1.0% (w/w) from each leaf age. LC-QTOF-MS analysis determined that three bioactive compounds, including quercetin, rutin, and kaempferol, are associated with the nematicidal activity of cavalcade against H. mucronata and M. graminicola. The information derived from this study indicates that the leaves of cavalcade are a source of promising phytonematicidals. This is the first study to assess and document its potential for nematicidal activity against H. mucronata and M. graminicola in Thailand. However, further research is needed to evaluate their efficacy under paddy field conditions.

Efficacy of different control methods of the rice striped stem borer Chilo suppressalis (Lepidoptera: Grambidae) under water stress conditions in paddy fields

Efficacy of different control methods of the rice striped stem borer Chilo suppressalis (Lepidoptera: Grambidae) under water stress conditions in paddy fields

Performance Evaluation of a Height Adjustable Mini Combine Harvester

Mini combine harvesters have been very popular among paddy farmers. The compact size of the machine, in addition to the axial flow threshing mechanism and the effect of low ground pressure on paddy soil, makes it a potential alternative for efficient paddy harvesting of a height-adjustable mini combine harvester used for harvesting paddy fields. This type of harvester was tested in typical paddy field conditions planted with MR297 variety at MARDI Seberang Perai. The performance tests included measuring theoretical and effective field capacity, field efficiency, soil bearing capacity before and after machine disturbance and machine slippage. The fuel consumption was also recorded. The combined harvesting losses were also measured during the experiment. Results showed that in wet and muddy conditions, the mini combine harvester obtained a theoretical field capacity (TFC) of 1.28 ha/hr, effective field capacity (EFC) of 0.94 ha/hr and a field efficiency (FE) of 73.4%. The average fuel consumption of the mini combine harvester was 25 L /ha. The wheel slippage in wet paddy fields was 2.18% and on farm roads was 1.55%. The mini combine harvester also contributed to producing less ground effects, combined with the use of low ground contact pressure tracks, that caused minimal soil disturbance that would affect the soil hardpan layer. This mini combine harvester produced an average harvesting loss of 2.3% with an average harvesting impurity of 10.65%. The mini combine harvester had enough power to move in typical paddy field conditions, with no soft soil problems. The mini combine harvester was able to turn 360 degrees within a small area, which made it suitable for harvesting in paddy fields. Thus, this mini combine harvester has the potential to be used for paddy harvesting with the ability to not only produce minimal harvesting loss, but also produce less ground contact pressure which can help to manage the soil hardpan layer from being easily damaged.

Optimization of Machine and Operational Parameters in the Development of Stubble Manager cum Crop Planter

Aims: Optimization of machine parameters (type of flail blade and number of strip-till blades per flange) and operational parameters (rotor shaft speed and forward speed) for the development of stubble manager cum crop planter for conservation agriculture.
 Study Design: Split plot (3 factors); Type of flail blade/number of strip-till blades per flange as main plot and rotor shaft speed and forward speed as sub plots.
 Place and Duration of Study: Dr. NTR College of Agricultural Engineering, Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh, India. Duration of the study was from August 2020 to July 2022 (24 moths).
 Methodology: Developed stubble manager cum crop planter as a solution for seeding of rice fallow pulse crops under combine harvested paddy field condition. This machine consists of two consists of stubble managing unit for mulching and strip tillage operations at a time and crop planting unit for placing pulse crop seed in furrow strips opened by stubble managing unit. The stubble managing unit was optimized for mulching parameters (shredding efficiency and paddy residue size reduction) and strip tillage parameters (furrow cross sectional area, furrow backfill and mass median diameter of soil clods) through field evaluation under combine harvested paddy field condition.
 Results: Interactions between machine and operational parameters were not significant on shredding efficiency. Highest paddy residue size reduction (77.33 %) up to 10 cm was observed with Y-type flail blade at rotor shaft and forward speeds 1650 rpm and 2.5 km h-1. Lowest furrow cross sectional area (20.93 cm2) and highest furrow soil backfill (23.24 %) were obtained with two numbers of strip-till blades per flange at rotor shaft and forward speed 1350 rpm and 2.0 km h-1 respectively. Interactions between machine and operational parameters were not significant on mass median diameter of soil clods.
 Conclusion: Optimized parameters for the stubble managing unit of the proposed machine were Y-type flail blade, 2-numbers of strip-till blades per flange, rotor shaft speed 1500 rpm and forward speed 2.0 km h-1.

Path planning in continuous adjacent farmlands and robust path-tracking control of a rice-seeding robot in paddy field

During rice seeding, paddy fields are segmented by embankments to hold water and evenly supply nutrients to the rice. Reasonable path planning from the entry to the exit of continuous adjacent sublands and accurate path tracking in harsh paddy fields are crucial for efficient and high quality work by an autonomous rice-seeding robot. In this study, four entering and exiting modes with continuous adjacent sublands are defined, and the corresponding planning paths for each mode are provided and analyzed. The optimal working path is obtained under the constraints of full coverage without overlap or skip between rows, minimum blank operation areas at the headland and minimum turns while working; The requirements for the width of standardized farmland and the number the farmland is divided into are given. A kinematic model of the rice-seeding robot embodying slip and side slip is built to achieve reliable and accurate path tracking under adverse conditions of paddy fields. The equivalent disturbances caused by slip and side slip are estimated using a nonlinear observer. Combined with a nonlinear observer, a fast terminal sliding-mode controller is designed for the path tracking of the rice-seeding robot in paddy fields. The control algorithm is validated through simulations and field tests.

Identification and cloning of early senescence leaf mutant esl13 in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

AbstractSenescence in plants is a complex and highly regulated process. However, the early senescence of leaf directly affects crop yield and quality. Identifying early senescence mutants and understanding its mechanism are critical to crop genetic improvement. In this study, we isolated an early senescence mutant esl13 (early senescence leaf 13) by ethyl methane sulfonate mutagenesis of Xinong 1B. Under paddy field conditions, the leaves of esl13 are normal green at the tillering stage, yellow at the booting stage, and gradually extended to the base of the leaves, and the senescence was most severe at the mature stage. At the booting stage, the leaves of mutant showed significantly lower photosynthetic pigment content, weaker chloroplast autofluorescence, and a highly significant reduction in net photosynthetic rate, resulting in shorter plants heights, shorter spike length, and lower seed yield at the mature stage. Similarly, the activity of antioxidant enzymes catalase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase decreased continuously, and malondialdehyde and superoxide anion (O2−) accumulated in the mutant esl13. Genetic analysis showed that the leaf senescence phenotype of esl13 is controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene, which was fine mapped between two molecular markers insertion‐deletion 4‐4 and SNP220 on chromosome 4. Gene sequencing showed that the 1230th base starting from ATG of the candidate gene LOC_Os04g48530 changed from T to A, causing the encoded amino acid change. Genetic complementation experiments confirmed the gene LOC_Os04g48530 controlled the mutant phe notype. This research provides new clues for further elucidating the regulation mechanism of rice senescence.

Suppression of cuticular wax biosynthesis mediated by rice LOV KELCH REPEAT PROTEIN 2 supports a negative role in drought stress tolerance.

Drought tolerance is important for grain crops, including rice (Oryza sativa); for example, rice cultivated under intermittent irrigation produces less methane gas compared to rice grown in anaerobic paddy field conditions, but these plants require greater drought tolerance. Moreover, the roles of rice circadian-clock genes in drought tolerance remain largely unknown. Here, we show that the mutation of LOV KELCH REPEAT PROTEIN 2 (OsLKP2) enhanced drought tolerance by increasing cuticular wax biosynthesis. Among ZEITLUPE family genes, OsLKP2 expression specifically increased under dehydration stress. OsLKP2 knockdown (oslkp2-1) and knockout (oslkp2-2) mutants exhibited enhanced drought tolerance. Cuticular waxes inhibit non-stomatal water loss. Under drought conditions, total wax loads on the leaf surface increased by approximately 10% in oslkp2-1 and oslkp2-2 compared to the wild type, and the transcript levels of cuticular wax biosynthesis genes were upregulated in the oslkp2 mutants. Yeast two-hybrid, bimolecular fluorescence complementation, and coimmunoprecipitation assays revealed that OsLKP2 interacts with GIGANTEA (OsGI) in the nucleus. The osgi mutants also showed enhanced tolerance to drought stress, with a high density of wax crystals on their leaf surface. These results demonstrate that the OsLKP2-OsGI interaction negatively regulates wax accumulation on leaf surfaces, thereby decreasing rice resilience to drought stress.

Crop Response to Disease and Water Scarcity Quantified by Normalized Difference Latent Heat Index

Early detection and quantification of plants’ response to disease and water shortage conditions are very important for the agricultural management. This study represents the first utilization of Normalized Difference Latent Heat Index (NDLI) as a dimensionless indicator to assess plant health. By integrating NDLI with thermal infrared and surface energy balance (SEB) components, we aim to enhance the analysis of crop conditions and water scarcity in rice-growing areas. The integration between NDLI and land surface temperature exhibits a strong correlation (r = −0.82) with crop evapotranspiration (ET) derived from the widely used residual Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land model. Besides, the performance of NDLI- and SEB-based ET method proved its ability to provide the precise information of paddy field conditions by showing the significant correlations with the crop canopy biophysical properties that are traditionally represented and inferred by the multispectral remote sensing indices. The correlation coefficients of NDLI- and SEB-derived ET with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalize Difference Water Index (NDWI), and Optimization of the Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (OSAVI) were 0.84, 0.55, and 0.84, respectively. Also, NDLI- and SEB-derived ET exhibits a high degree of consistency with the ET determined through the SEBAL method, with difference less than 10% of the observations over 98.1% of the paddy fields of concern. Interestingly, the abnormally low ET signatures over the confirmed disease-infected regions of paddy fields are obviously observed in the NDLI- and SEB-derived ET maps, but not in the SEBAL-derived ET map. The findings of this work suggest that NDLI can be considered as a valuable indicator to provide information of the water stress status and health of the crop plants for advanced food-supply management.

Available nitrogen and ammonia-oxidizing archaea in soil regulated N2O emissions regardless of rice planting under a double rice cropping-fallow system

Changing redox conditions in paddy fields due to more frequent events govern the soil biogeochemical processes that further affect the generation and emission of N2O from soil. However, studies on the effect of rice cropping on soil N2O emission under rice-growing seasons and relevant mechanisms are scarce. A double rice cropping-fallow (RF) field in central China, with rice cropping (RF-CC) and non-rice cropping (RF-NC) cultivation, were selected to investigate that effect of rice planting on soil N2O emissions and key functional genes related to N2O-production and consumption, such as the ammonia-monooxygenase gene derived from ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA-amoA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB-amoA) and nitrous oxide reductase gene (nosZ). The results of the static opaque chamber-gas chromatography technique showed that seasonal cumulative N2O emissions from RF-NC treatment during the first and second rice growing season were 1.02 ± 0.17 and 2.95 ± 0.12 kg N ha−1, respectively, and were comparable to those from RF-CC treatment (0.82 ± 0.09 and 2.97 ± 0.18 kg N ha−1, respectively), indicating rice cropping had no crucial effect on soil N2O emissions. No significant difference was found in the abundance of the aforementioned genes between two treatments. For both RF-CC and RF-NC treatments, N2O fluxes were positively correlated with the soil available nitrogen, such as dissolved inorganic N (DIN) and microbial biomass N (MBN), suggesting that soil available N was a key factor controlling N2O emissions. Increased transcripts of the AOA-amoA gene may facilitate N2O production and were confirmed by the positive linear relations between N2O fluxes and the abundance of AOA-amoA gene for both treatments. The structural equation model (SEM) indicated that both soil available N and AOA-amoA gene contributed more than 70% to their effects on N2O emission for both treatments. These results implied that soil N2O emissions during therice-growing period could be regulated by the interaction of soil parameters and related functional genes, rather than the effect of rice cropping under a RF system.

Preliminary Assessment of Land Quality Index of the Paddy Field Around Jember Regency

Land conversion causes a decrease in the occupation of paddy fields areas. Furthermore, the existing paddy fields that are mismanaged cause land degradation also. This study assesses the land quality index (LQI) in Jember Regency, East Java, Indonesia. The novelty of this research is that it combines the assessment of soil and land parameters (terrain, topography, climate, irrigation infrastructure, erosion, and flooding). Input data for this study consist of land cover, soil type, and slope maps. The procedure includes (1) spatial analysis to create the unit soil map area, (2) preparing soil sampling, (3) field survey, (4) soil chemical analysis in the laboratories, (5) scoring of paddy field condition, (6) principal component analysis and (7) classification. The PCA results show that three variables ( i.e., slope, irrigation infrastructure, and flood hazard) strongly correlate to LQI. Then, four classes (very low, low, medium, and reasonable) of LQI describe the spatial variability of the paddy field. The results show that about 1.05% of the paddy field area is categorised in a shallow LQI class. Then a low-class LQI covers approximately 13.83%, a medium-class about 42.92%, and 42.2 % of the paddy field categorised as the good LQI. Management of irrigation infrastructure and planting perennials in upstream areas can be carried out to improve land quality.

Over-Expression of Dehydroascorbate Reductase Improves Salt Tolerance, Environmental Adaptability and Productivity in Oryza sativa.

Abiotic stress induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in plants, and high ROS levels can cause partial or severe oxidative damage to cellular components that regulate the redox status. Here, we developed salt-tolerant transgenic rice plants that overexpressed the dehydroascorbate reductase gene (OsDHAR1) under the control of a stress-inducible sweet potato promoter (SWPA2). OsDHAR1-expressing transgenic plants exhibited improved environmental adaptability compared to wild-type plants, owing to enhanced ascorbate levels, redox homeostasis, photosynthetic ability, and membrane stability through cross-activation of ascorbate-glutathione cycle enzymes under paddy-field conditions, which enhanced various agronomic traits, including root development, panicle number, spikelet number per panicle, and total grain yield. dhar2-knockdown plants were susceptible to salt stress, and owing to poor seed maturation, exhibited reduced biomass (root growth) and grain yield under paddy field conditions. Microarray revealed that transgenic plants highly expressed genes associated with cell growth, plant growth, leaf senescence, root development, ROS and heavy metal detoxification systems, lipid metabolism, isoflavone and ascorbate recycling, and photosynthesis. We identified the genetic source of functional genomics-based molecular breeding in crop plants and provided new insights into the physiological processes underlying environmental adaptability, which will enable improvement of stress tolerance and crop species productivity in response to climate change.

Biochar Amendment and Nitrogen Fertilizer Contribute to the Changes in Soil Properties and Microbial Communities in a Paddy Field.

Biochar amendment can influence the abundance, activity, and community structure of soil microbes. However, scare information is present about the effect of the combined application of biochar with synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer under paddy field condition. We aimed to resolve this research gap in rice field conditions through different biochar in combination with N fertilizers on soil nutrients, soil microbial communities, and rice grain yield. The present study involves eight treatments in the form of biochar (0, 10, 20, and 30 t ha–1) and N (135 and 180 kg ha–1) fertilizer amendments. The soil microbial communities were characterized using high-throughput sequencing of 16S and Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) ribosomal RNA gene amplicons. Experiential findings showed that the treatments had biochar amendments along with N fertilizer significantly advanced soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), soil microbial carbon (SMBC), soil microbial nitrogen (SMBN), and rice grain yield in comparison to sole N application. Furthermore, in comparison with control in the first year (2019), biochar amendment mixed with N fertilizer had more desirable relative abundance of microorganism, phyla Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia with better relative abundance ranging from 8.49, 4.60, 46.30, and 1.51% in T7, respectively. Similarly, during 2020, bacteria phyla Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Gemmatimonadetes, Planctomycetes, and Verrucomicrobia were resulted in higher and ranging from 8.69, 5.18, 3.5, 1.9, 4.0, and 1.6%, in biochar applied treatments, respectively, as compared to control (T1). Among the treatments, Sphingopyxis and Thiobacillus bacterial genus were in higher proportion in T7 and T3, respectively, as compared to other treatments and Bacillus was higher in T6. Interestingly, biochar addition significantly decreased the soil fungi phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Rozellomycota, in 2020 as compared to 2019. Whereas biochar addition to soil decreased Echria, Kohlmeyeriopsis, and Westerdykella fungal genus as compared to non-biochar treatments. The redundancy analysis showed that soil biochemical traits were positively correlated with soil bacteria. In addition, correlation analysis showed that soil bacteria including Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetes, and Proteobacteria strongly correlated with rice grain yield. This study demonstrated that soil nutrients and bacteria contribute to an increase in rice yield in combined biochar amendment with lower N treatments.

Genotypic Variations in Ferulic Acid, Antioxidant Capacity and Yield Components of Thai Landrace Rice Genotypes

Ferulic acid is a potent antioxidant in rice. The objective of this study was to evaluate the variations in ferulic acid and antioxidant capacity among landrace rice genotypes. The experiment is conducted under paddy field conditions in two locations. It uses a randomized complete block design with three replications, and the treatments consist of 24 landrace rice genotypes. Data are collected for yield and yield components, ferulic acid, and antioxidant capacity. Rice genotypes are significantly different for plant height, number of panicles per plant, number of seeds per panicle, 1,000 - seed weight and grain yield. Grain yields of 24 rice genotypes ranged from 1,476.9 to 4,348.1 kg/ha, and G24 is a good source for high grain yield. Variations in ferulic acid content and antioxidant capacity are found among genotypes. Ferulic acid contents range from 11.56 to 45.68 mg/100 g seed, and antioxidant capacity determined by the DPPH method ranged from 15.46 to 86.26%. G6 has the highest ferulic acid content and antioxidant capacity. These two genotypes are promising for parents in breeding programs targeting improved ferulic acid content, antioxidant capacity, and yield.

Influence of Varieties and Spacings on Growth, Biomass Yield and Nutritional Value of Corn Silage in Paddy Field

Abstract The objectives of the experiment were to determine plant spacing and variety to produce the suitable growth, yield components, biomass yield of field corn and nutritional value of corn silage in paddy field condition. The field experiment was conducted at the Lopburi Research Station, Khok Charoen district, Lopburi province, Thailand in 2018-2019 and was arranged in a split plot design in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 4 replications. The main plot contained 3 plant spacings viz. 75×15, 75×20 and 75×25 cm and sub plot consisted of 5 field corn varieties (CP888, NS3, S7328, SW4452 and SW5). The results showed that wide spacing tended to produce higher ears per plant than narrow spacing. CP888 was the highest ears per plant variety. NS3 was the highest leaf/stem ratio variety. SW5 showed high leaf, stem and fresh biomass yield and it also produce ear yield closing to a high ear yield variety at 75×25 cm spacing. Moreover, SW5 also had high crude protein (CP) content, while plant spacing did not significantly affect acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), ash, and lactic acid of corn silage. The widest spacing (75×25 cm) showed lower NDF than the narrowest spacing (75×15 cm). It was evident that SW5 and 75×25 cm spacing may be considered optimum for biomass yields without negatively affecting the corn silage quality. Keywords: Nutritional value, Paddy field, Plant spacing, Silage corn, Variety

Load analysis of electric driving system of crawler type weeding robot during driving in asphalt and paddy field condition

Load analysis of electric driving system of crawler type weeding robot during driving in asphalt and paddy field condition

Monitoring Rice Crop and Paddy Field Condition Using UAV RGB Imagery

An effective crop management practice is very important to the sustenance of crop production. With the emergence of Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0), precision farming has become the key element in modern agriculture to help farmers in maintaining the sustainability of crop production. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) also known as drone was widely used in agriculture as one of the potential technologies to collect the data and monitor the crop condition. Managing and monitoring the paddy field especially at the bigger scale is one of the biggest challenges for farmers. Traditionally, the paddy field and crop condition are only monitored and observed manually by the farmers which may sometimes lead to inaccurate observation of the plot due the large area. Therefore, this study proposes the application of unmanned aerial vehicles and RGB imagery for monitoring rice crop development and paddy field condition. The integration of UAV with RGB digital camera were used to collect the data in the paddy field. Result shows that the early monitoring of rice crops is important to identify the crop condition. Therefore, with the use of aerial imagery analysis from UAV, it can help to improve rice crop management and eventually is expected to increase rice crop production.

A chloride efflux transporter, BIG RICE GRAIN 1, is involved in mediating grain size and salt tolerance in rice.

Grain size is determined by the size and number of cells in the grain. The regulation of grain size is crucial for improving crop yield; however, the genes and molecular mechanisms that control grain size remain elusive. Here, we report that a member of the detoxification efflux carrier /Multidrug and Toxic Compound Extrusion (DTX/MATE) family transporters, BIG RICE GRAIN 1 (BIRG1), negatively influences grain size in rice (Oryza sativa L.). BIRG1 is highly expressed in reproductive organs and roots. In birg1 grain, the outer parenchyma layer cells of spikelet hulls are larger than in wild-type (WT) grains, but the cell number is unaltered. When expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, BIRG1 exhibits chloride efflux activity. Consistent with this role of BIRG1, the birg1 mutant shows reduced tolerance to salt stress at a toxic chloride level. Moreover, grains from birg1 plants contain a higher level of chloride than those of WT plants when grown under normal paddy field conditions, and the roots of birg1 accumulate more chloride than those of WT under saline conditions. Collectively, the data suggest that BIRG1 in rice functions as a chloride efflux transporter that is involved in mediating grain size and salt tolerance by controlling chloride homeostasis.

Machinery and Technical Efficiencies in Selected Paddy Areas in Malaysia

Malaysia’s paddy sector frequently relies on machinery in its activities, from land preparation until harvesting. However, the shortfall of meeting domestic demand, ineffective use of machinery, mismanagement, and technical inefficiency were among the sector’s challenges. This study analyses the socio-economic effect on machinery and technical efficiencies in Malaysia’s Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) and Integrated Agricultural Development Area Barat Laut Selangor (IADA BLS) paddy areas. Qualitative data were collected using a face-to-face interview. The results confirmed that MADA respondents were highly trained, more educated, and more efficient in using machinery in the agriculture sector than IADA BLS. The same goes for MADA’s productivity, energy outputs, machinery efficiency, labour, and technology use, which were higher than IADA BLS. However, inadequate planning and managing farm activities led to poor paddy field conditions, including insufficient water supply system, irregularly shaped paddy field plots, and increasing difficulties in handling paddy diseases and maintaining the machinery. These challenges resulted in a frequent interruption of paddy production activities, incurring additional costs, decreasing profit, and jeopardising the farmers’ financial status. Therefore, it is recommended to use types of machinery that fit a particular purpose in terms of cost and technology and ensure the required services are carried out on time to maximise machinery efficiency. On the other hand, technical efficiency’s main challenges were the high operation cost and increasing fossil fuel use, combined with a lack of government subsidies. Research and development in agricultural energy use, environment, and government subsidies could decrease production costs and improve paddy production.