Monday, November 13, 2006
58-10

Evaluation of Agronomic Traits of Selected Cultivars and Breeding Lines of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) for the Effects of Early Planting in Arkansas.

Alisha Stivers, Univ of Arkansas, 115 Plant Sciences Bldg., Fayetteville, AR 72701 and James Gibbons, Rice Research & Extension Center, 2900 Hwy. 130E, Stuttgart, AR 72160.

Rice in Arkansas is predominately grown under flooded conditions. Rice thrives under flooded conditions and is more productive when water is not limited.  The irrigation of the rice crop also helps to control weed infestations and deter the proliferation of plant diseases. In the past, water conservation was generally not of great concern to growers because of the perception that water was a seemingly unending renewable resource.  It is estimated that rice production in Arkansas averaged nearly one trillion gallons of irrigation water usage per year from 1998 through 2002.  This consumptive water usage has been confounded with a rise in energy costs, which can lessen a grower’s return on investment due to increased pumping costs.  The main objective of this research is to identify agronomic traits in rice that highlight a cultivar or breeding line as an appropriate candidate for early planting in Arkansas.  Secondary goals for this project include: Determining the effects of planting date on irrigation usage, and Determining if cultivars or breeding lines differ significantly in mean yield and yield components for different planting dates.  To determine these effects, a planting date study was employed utilizing four planting dates each comprising of seven cultivars and three breeding lines planted in a randomized complete block design with four replications per planting date.  Dates of planting for each of the four planting dates are as follows: 02MAR05, 14MAR05, 04APR05, 21APR05. Flow-meters were used in each planting date to record irrigation usage per planting date.  Data collected from flow-meters in 2005 was used to determine the order of irrigation water usage of planting dates from least water usage to most water usage.  The order is as follows for irrigation usage: Planting Date 2 (14MAR0), Planting Date 4 (21APR05), Planting Date 1 (02MAR05), Planting Date 3 (04APR05). 

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