Physiological parameters and yield differ in rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars with variable water management systems

Yield reduction of rice is a severe problem due to the advent of increasing water scarcity and efficiency is relatively low. Physiological attributes and yield performance of high yielding (HYV) rice cultivars need to be assessed by minimizing water loss. Therefore, a glasshouse experiment was conducted in Bangladesh to investigate the impact of cultivars and water management on growth dynamics, biomass production, and yield and water productivity. Ten HYV boro (dry season irrigated) rice cultivars along with fivewater management systems were included in the study. The study revealed that cultivars Binadhan-10 had higher value of leaf area index (LAI), root dry weight along with moderate panicle length. Accordingly, the cultivar Binadhan-10 had a higher yield than all other cultivars because of the highest total dry matter (TDM), number of effective tillers hill-1, and number of grains panicle-1. Growth, TDM, and yield were increased with water application up to 8 DAD after which these factors declined with increasing water stress at 10 DAD. The crop grown at CS condition did not increase the yield, rather caused the wastage of irrigation water. The water productivity was the highest (0.252 t ha-1cm-1) in 10 DAD treatments, obviously due to minimum water use but highest yield was observed in 8 DAD because of optimum use of water and non stress condition. Therefore, the present study was useful in the screening of the most efficient cultivars, which could be strongly recommended to rice growers to improve crop yield and reduce the use of water