TITLE:
Rice and Barnyardgrass: Water Stress and Initial Establishment
AUTHORS:
José Maria Barbat Parfitt, André Andres, Germani Concenço, Gustavo Mack Teló, Fábio Schreiber, Jaqueline Trombetta da Silva, Ivana Santos Moisinho, Pâmela Andrades Timm
KEYWORDS:
Echinochloa crusgalli, Intermittent Irrigation, Oryza sativa
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.8 No.12,
November
24,
2017
ABSTRACT: The present work aimed to evaluate the effect of different
water stress levels on the development of both rice and barnyardgrass. The study
was established into greenhouse, in completely randomized design, in factorial scheme
2 × 5, with four replications. Factor “A” comprised the plant species (rice cv.
BRS Querência, or the weed Echinochloa crusgalli), and factor “B” comprised the water stress levels:
(T1) continuous flood (CF); (T2) 0 kPa (saturated soil); (T3) 10 kPa; (T4) 40 kPa;
and (T5) 100 kPa. Plant emergence was assessed every day; plant length was measured
30 days after planting. At the end of the experiment, the number of leaves per plant,
root length and shoot and root dry mass were determined. Our data supply evidence
that under moderate water stress, up to approximately 40 kPa, rice tends to perform
better than barnyardgrass in the initial stage of crop growth, when under equivalent
plant density. However, barnyardgrass is usually present in much higher plant density
than crop plants in fields traditionally cropped with rice. Thus, efficient control
of barnyardgrass should be accomplished to avoid damage to rice crop by competition
for environmental resources.