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. 2016 Dec;9(1):11.
doi: 10.1186/s12284-016-0085-6. Epub 2016 Mar 17.

Potential Yield Increase of Hybrid Rice at Five Locations in Southern China

Peng Jiang  1   2   3 , Xiaobing Xie  2 , Min Huang  4 , Xuefeng Zhou  2 , Ruichun Zhang  2 , Jiana Chen  2 , Dandan Wu  2 , Bing Xia  2 , Hong Xiong  1   3 , Fuxian Xu  1   3 , Yingbin Zou  2
Affiliations

Potential Yield Increase of Hybrid Rice at Five Locations in Southern China

Peng Jiang et al. Rice (N Y). 2016 Dec.

Abstract

Background: A number of field studies have demonstrated that the yield potential of hybrid rice cultivars is higher than that of inbred cultivars, although the magnitude of difference between hybrid and inbred cultivars at different yield levels has not been described. The objective of this study is to compare the yield increase potential at different yield levels between hybrid and conventional rice. Ten field experiments were conducted at five locations in southern China in 2012 and 2013. At each location, two hybrid and two inbred cultivars were grown at three N levels: high (225 kg/hm(2)), moderate (161-191 kg/hm(2)) and the control, zero N (0 kg/hm(2)).

Results: Hybrid rice yielded approximately 8 % more grain than did inbred cultivars in Huaiji, Binyang and Haikou; approximately 7 % more in Changsha; and approximately 19 % more in Xingyi. The high grain yields observed for hybrid rice cultivars were attributed to high grain weight and biomass accumulation at maturity. On average, rice yields were approximately 6.0-7.5 t ha(-1) (medium yield) in Huaiji, Binyang and Haikou; approximately 9.0 t ha(-1) in Changsha (high yield); and approximately 12.0 t ha(-1) (super high yield) in Xingyi. The yield gaps among Huaiji, Binyang and Haikou and Changsha were attributed to the differences in spikelets m(-2) and biomass production, whereas the yield gap between Changsha and Xingyi was caused by the differences in grain-filling percentage, grain weight and harvest index. The differences in biomass production among sites were primarily due to variation in crop growth rate induced by varied temperatures and accumulative solar radiation.

Conclusions: The yield superiority of hybrid rice was relatively small in comparison with that of inbred cultivars at medium and high yield levels, but the difference was large at super high yield levels. Improving rice yields from medium to high should focus on spikelets m(-2) and biomass, whereas further improvement to super high level should emphasize on grain-filling percentage, grain weight and harvest index. Favorable environmental conditions are essential for high yields in hybrid rice.

Keywords: Grain yield; Hybrid rice; Inbred rice; Yield superiority.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Biomass accumulation from sowing to full heading (a, b) and from full heading to maturity (c, d) in 4 rice cultivars at 5 locations in 2012 (a, c) and 2013 (b, d). Data are averaged across 3 N treatments. Means followed by the same letters are not significant at the 0.05 level. Error bars are for the comparison of cultivars at each location
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Crop growth rate (CGR) from sowing to full heading (a, b) and from full heading to maturity (c, d) of 4 rice cultivars at 5 locations in 2012 (a, c) and 2013 (b, d). Data are averaged across 3 N treatments. Means followed by the same letters are not significant at the 0.05 level. Error bars are for the comparison of cultivars in each location
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The relationships of grain yield with mean maximum temperature (a), mean minimum temperature (c), accumulative solar radiation (e) from sowing to heading, and mean maximum temperature (b), mean minimum temperature (d), accumulative solar radiation (f) heading to maturity from heading to maturity of 4 rice cultivars at 5 locations in 2012 and 2013. Data are averaged across 3 N treatments and 4 rice cultivars
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