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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2025, Vol. 24 Issue (1): 101-113    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.12.018
Crop Science Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Effects of increased seeding density on seedling characteristics, mechanical transplantation quality, and yields of rice with crop straw boards for seedling cultivation

Yufei Ling, Mengzhu Liu, Yuan Feng, Zhipeng Xing, Hui Gao, Haiyan Wei, Qun Hu#, Hongcheng Zhang#

Research Institute of Rice Industrial Engineering Technology, Yangzhou University/Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Cultivation and Physiology/Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Yangzhou 225000, China
 Highlights 
High seeding rates using crop straw boards reduce tray usage and save labor.
Short seedling age mitigates the quality decline of rice seedlings caused by high seeding rates.
Optimal seeding rate and seedling age enhance rice yield and economic returns.
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摘要  

水稻育秧和机插阶段的需要大量劳动力是机插水稻面临的主要难题之一。可通过增加每盘育秧播种量以减少育秧秧盘用量达到节省人工的目的。2021年和2022年使用秸秆基质块为育秧材料,以常规播种量150 g/盘、移栽秧龄20 d为对照(CK),设置播种量250 g/盘、300 g/盘和350 g/盘,移栽秧龄为10 d和15 d的6个处理,对水稻秧苗素质、机插质量和产量及经济效益进行研究。与CK相比水稻秧苗素质受高播种量短秧龄育秧影响较大,但秧苗活力未受显著影响。本实验中,350-10处理每公顷秧盘用量为152-155盘,比CK用量减少62%。提高水稻育秧播种量可减少2.8%-4%的水稻缺穴率。产量及经济效益以300-15处理最佳。



Abstract  

The high labor demand during rice seedling cultivation and transplantation poses a significant challenge in advancing machine-transplanted rice cultivation.  This problem may be solved by increasing the seeding rate during seedling production while reducing the number of seedling trays.  This study conducted field experiments from 2021 to 2022, using transplanting seedling ages of 10 and 15 days to explore the effects of 250, 300, and 350 g/tray on the seedling quality, mechanical transplantation quality, yields, and economic benefits of rice.  The commonly used combination of 150 g/tray with a 20-day seedling age in rice production was used as CK.  The cultivation of seedlings under a high seeding rate and short seedling age significantly affected seedling characteristics, but there was no significant difference in seedling vitality compared to CK.  The minimum number of rice trays used in the experiment was observed in the treatment of 350–10 (300 g/tray and 10-day seedling age), only 152–155 trays ha–1, resulting in a 62% reduction in the number of trays needed.  By increasing the seeding rate of rice, missed holes during mechanical transplantation decreased by 2.8 to 4%.  The treatment of 300–15 (300 g/tray and 15-day seedling age) achieved the highest yields and economic gains.  These results indicated that using crop straw boards can reduce the application of seedling trays.  On that basis, rice yields can be increased by raising the seeding rate and shortening the seedling age of rice without compromising seedling quality.

Keywords:  machine-transplanted rice       crop straw board       seedling rate       seedling quality       mechanical transplantation quality       yield  
Received: 09 August 2023   Accepted: 08 November 2023
Fund: 
The research was funded by the Jiangsu Key Research Program, China (BE2022338), the Jiangsu Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Fund, China (CX (23)3107), the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, China (22KJB210004), and the Jiangsu Province Agricultural Major Technology Collaborative Promotion Project, China (2022-ZYXT-04-1),
the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province, China (KYCX23_3569), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, China. 
About author:  Yufei Ling, E-mail: YufeiLing96@outlook.com; #Correspondence Qun Hu, E-mail: huqun@yzu.edu.cn; Hongcheng Zhang, E-mail: hczhang@yzu.edu.cn

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Yufei Ling, Mengzhu Liu, Yuan Feng, Zhipeng Xing, Hui Gao, Haiyan Wei, Qun Hu, Hongcheng Zhang. 2025. Effects of increased seeding density on seedling characteristics, mechanical transplantation quality, and yields of rice with crop straw boards for seedling cultivation. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 24(1): 101-113.

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