Effect of furrow irrigation and alternate wetting and drying irrigation on grain yield and quality of rice.

Abstract

【Objective】Furrow irrigation and alternate wetting and drying irrigation have been considered as two new water-saving techniques in rice production.This study aimed to investigate yield performance in terms of quality and quantity under such practices.【Method】Two cultivars,Yangdao 6(an indica hybrid cultivar) and Yangjing 4038(a japonica cultivar) were field-grown and three treatments were employed from transplanting to maturity: farmers' traditional flooding as control(FTF),furrow irrigation(FI) and alternate wetting and drying(AWD,re-watered when soil water potential reached-15 kPa at 15-20 cm).【Result】Compared with FTF,both FI and AWD enhanced leaf membrane lipid peroxidation,photosynthetic rate,root activity and contents of indole-3-acetic acid and zeatin+zeatin riboside in roots,and significantly increased yield by 9.43%-11.6% and 6.16%-9.94%,respectively.Both FI and AWD either significantly increased the rates of brown rice,milled rice,head rice and contents of albumin and glutelin proteins,and peak viscosity and breakdown value of rapid visco-analyser(RVA) profiles,and reduced chalky kernels,chalk size,chalkiness and content of prolamin in grain and setback values.The two cultivars showed similar trends in quality and quantity of rice yield.【Conclusion】 Both FI and AWD could increase grain yield and quality.Improvement in root and canopy performance under FI and AWD contributed to a higher grain yield and better quality of rice.