Potential to improve N uptake and grain yield in water saving Ground Cover Rice Production System

More rice with less water – evaluation of yield and resource use efficiency in ground cover rice production system with transplanting

“…2, 6 and 5a). This stands in contrast to previous reports (Zhang et al, 2013;Tao et al, 2014) which is probably to be attributed to differences in soil properties and crop management at the different experimental sites, as well as to timing and rate of N topdressings, which are crucial factors influencing crop growth and grain yield (Sui et al, 2013).…”

“…Likewise, weed growth and increased infestation constitute further constraints leading to reduced performance of GCRPS-direct seeding (Zhao et al, 2007;Peng et al, 2006). In contrast in the present study with GCRPS transplanting and more favorable soil conditions, there were no signs of micronutrient deficiency, soil sickness or yield decline that would resemble problems observed in GCRPS-direct seeding and in aerobic rice (Peng et al, 2006;Tao et al, 2007;Nie et al, 2007Nie et al, , 2009Qu et al, 2012;Tao et al, 2014).…”

“…Consequently during their juvenile phase, rice plants may show excessive vegetative growth while in the reproductive phase, growth may be limited by insufficient N availability, which may lead to pre-mature plant senescence and constrain grain yield (Qu et al, 2012). Combination of urea and organic manure, with improved N supply after panicle initiation, could enhance the N uptake during the reproductive phase and increase the grain yield as seen with GCRPS in saturated soil in a long-term experiment (Tao et al, 2014). However so far, there are no studies assessing the effect of combining mineral fertilizer such as urea -the most commonly used fertilizer in China -and manure for their effects on yield potential and nitrogen use efficiency in GCRPS-transplanting under different soil moisture conditions.…”

Soil solution and plant nitrogen on irrigated rice under controlled release nitrogen fertilizers

“…In this sense, YANG et al (2013) reported that a reduced (125kg ha -1 ) and full (187.50kg N ha -1 ) dose of CRF, when compared to the full urea dose, lead to grain yield and NUE increases. Recently, TAO et al (2014) reported an increase in grain yield and NUE by irrigated rice, when using CRF compared to urea and urea treated with nitrification inhibitor. Such reports indicate that some increased efficiency sources can be beneficial to the rice crop.…”

Water consumption and water-saving characteristics of a ground cover rice production system

“…5). The most significantly elevated WUE T occurred during the vegetative stage (from transplanting to panicle initiation) rather than the reproductive stage (from anthesis to maturity), likely due to excessive growth during the vegetative period under GCRPS readily resulting in nitrogen deficiency during the reproductive stage (Qu et al, 2012;Tao et al, 2014). As an indicator of WUE T , stable carbon isotope composition (d 13 C) of leaves can provide a time-integrated measurement of a plant's transpiration efficiency, which reflects the averaged ratio of intercellular CO 2 and atmospheric CO 2 over a period (Farquhar and Richards, 1984;Ehleringer et al, 1993).…”