Influence of the Improved System of Rice Intensification (SRI) on Rice Yield, Yield Components and Tillering Characteristics under Different Rice Establishment Methods

The impacts of the system of rice intensification (SRI) and conventional management (CM) on grain yield, yield components and tillering capacity were examined under 4 rice establishment methods transplanting (TP), seedling casting (SC), mechanical transplanting (MT) and direct seeding (DS). SRI produced significantly higher grain yield than CM under TP and MT but not wader DS or SC. DS and SC produced much higher seedling quality than TP or MT, suggesting that robust seedlings with vigorous roots weaken the positive effect of SRI on rice yield. SRI produced a higher tillering rate than CM, but did not affect ear-bearing tiller rate significantly. Moreover, the net photosynthetic rate of the recent fully expanded leaf at mid-tillering stage was significantly higher in SRI than in CM under MT and TP. The obtained results also indicated that SRI increased biomass accumulation before heading and improved utilization of photosynthates in the grain-filling stage.