Critical Yield Factors for Achieving High Grain Yield in Early-Season Rice Grown under Mechanical Transplanting Conditions

Double-season rice cropping systems occupy a large portion of the rice production area in southern China. Because the problem of insufficient labor, mechanical transplanting (in contrast to the manual transplanting) was become more attractive in double-season rice system. However, the decisive yield factors which resulting in high grain yield of early-season rice are unclear under mechanical-transplanted conditions. In present study, the field experiments were conducted in the early season in 2017 and repeated in 2018 in Santang Town, Hunan Province, China. Ten early season rice cultivars (Zhuliangyou 819, Lingliangyou 268, Lingliangyou 104, Luliangyou 996, Xiangzaoxian 24, Xiangzaoxian 32, Xiangzaoxian 45, Xiangzaoxian 42, Zhongjiazao 17, and Zhongzao 39) were used as materials in this study. The difference in grain yield and closelyrelated agronomic and physiological traits of ten tested cultivars were compared. The range of yields (t ha^–1 at 86% dry matter) in 2017 was 6.2 to 8.7 (mean 7.8) and in 2018 was 6.5 to 8.4 (mean 7.8). Grain weight and pre-heading biomass accumulation had potent significant positive correlations with the grain yield. The greater pre-heading biomass accumulation was major attributed to higher apparent radiation use efficiency. Our results suggested that early-season rice cultivars to achieve the high grain yield in mechanical-transplanted conditions depends on apparent radiation use efficiency in the pre-heading period and higher grain weight.