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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
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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.

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 ricecrop straw boardseedling rateseedling qualitymechanical transplantation qualityyield

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Journal of Integrative Agriculture (JIA)
Volume 24 Issue 1,
January 2025
Pages 101-113
DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.12.018
Cite this article:
Ling Y, Liu M, Feng Y, et al. 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 (JIA), 2025, 24(1): 101-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jia.2023.12.018
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