Rice crop duration and leaf appearance rate in a variable thermal environment : I. Development of an empirically based model

Variable crop duration is a major constraint to rice double cropping in and irrigated environments, such as the Sabel. Photoperiodism and low air and water temperatures during the cool season are the major causes of variability, and cultivars are needed whose photothermal response provides a more stable crop duration. A previous study analyzed cultivar photothermal constants on the basis of progress to flowering. The present study sought to identify, on the basis of leaf appearance rates, the phenological stages that are most sensitive photothermally, and to explore technical options to screen germplasm for stable crop duration. Three Oryza sativa, indica-type rice cultivars (Jaya, IKP, IR64) were sown in the field at 15-day intervals during the dry season of 1995 (11 sowing dates) and 1996 (5 sowing dates) in Ndiaye, Senegal, under full irrigation and wide spacing to reduce microclimate variability. Mean daily water temperature (Tw) varied from 13 to 35°C. After seed soaking, the rate at which the first leaf (L,) appeared was linearly related with Tw, with a base temperature (T base) of about 10°C. Appearance rates of the subsequent three leaves (L2-L4) had a similar Tbase, and presented a distinct temperature optimum (T opt) at about 23°C, beyond which development rates decreased. Errors were too large to determine differences among cultivars in thermal constants. No significant temperature response was observed for the leaf appearances between L5 to the flag leaf (L12 to L20) Crop duration to flowering varied by 45 (IR64) and 63 days (Jaya). These variations were associated with highly variable leaf numbers in all cultivars, including photoperiod-insensitive IKP. One-third of the variable duration was hypothesized to be due to a variable basic vegetative phase (BVP), caused by variable germination and leaf appearance rates, and two-thirds to variable duration of panicle induction after BVP. Water temperature was the main determinant of both sources of variability. A simulation model, describing these temperature and photoperiod effects on leaf number, growth duration and leaf appearance rates, was developed using the 1995 data, and satisfactorily validated with the 1996 data. The model was used to identify phenological-stage and cultivar- specific causes of variable crop duration. (Résumé d'auteur