Iskandar Lubis

Contribution of Sink and Source Sizes to Yield Variation among Rice Cultivars

Abstract In order to identify the key factors that arrest yield improvement in rice, we observed fifteen divergent cultivars in a field at Kyoto, Japan in 1995 and 2001 under various nitrogen (N) regimes. The contribution that sink size (spikelet number X single fully ripened grain mass), source size (total available carbohydrate), and source components, non-structural carbohydrate (pre-reserved) at full heading (NSCh) and dry matter production during grain filling (DMP) had to the variation in yield among cultivars was examined. The dry weight of rough brown rice (Y) ranged from 310 to 743 g m-2 throughout two years and under all N regimes examined. Although Y correlated with both sink and ource sizes, it tended to correlate more closely with source size than with sink size. In many cultivars, source size was smaller than sink size at all conditions examined except for the low nitrogen regime. The contribution of source components to Y was analyzed with the equation : Y = Cn NSCh + Cd DMP, where C„ and Cd are coefficients of NSC utilization and of DMP utilization for grain filling. Y correlated with DMP more closely than with NSCh. ANSC (NSCh - NSCm), where NSCra is NSC at maturity and “Cn” vaguely correlated with the difference between sink size and DMP, showing that NSC is used to ompensate for the shortage of DMP to fill grains. At the same time, there were cultivar differences in NSCh and “Cn”. The highest yielding cultivar Takanari always had the greatest DMP, relatively high NSCh and stably high values of “Cn”. In conclusion, yield variation among rice cultivars correlated with source size more closely than with sink size, and DMP rather than NSCh primarily contributed to Y. While NSCh tended to be utilized complementarily to DMP, the contribution of NSCh seemed to depend on the ability of rice cultivars to utilize NSC.

Plant development and yield components under a tropical environment in soybean cultivars with temperate and tropical origins

Abstract Cultivar tests under tropical environments could be an approach to explore soybean productivity under high temperature. Twenty-nine soybean cultivars divided into five groups with temperate origin (Japanese and US) and tropical origin (Indonesian-old, Indonesian-modern and other tropical) were grown for two years in a tropical environment at Banten, Indonesia, with minimal season-to-season variation in air temperature and day-length. Temperate cultivars were earlier in flowering and shorter in duration from R1 to R5. Temperate cultivars had a seed yield of 157 g m−2 (mean temperate cultivars) compared to 249 g m−2 (tropical cultivars), which was due to having lower values of pods, seed number and TDW. In addition, the occurrence of shriveling and smaller seed size compared to plants grown in their region of origin was considerably evident in Japanese cultivars. To account for the difference of growth duration, a maturity-corrected index for yield and relevant variables was calculated to consider the amount of incident solar radiation. The yield index for all tested cultivars ranged from .49 to 1.48, and Japanese cultivars showed the lowest yield index (.67), followed by US cultivars (.87), whereas tropical cultivars had index means from 1.05 to 1.20. Although they were both of temperate origin, Japanese cultivars tended to show a lower index than US cultivars. The tendency was similar for TDW and node number. The poor performance of temperate cultivars even after correction suggests that there is a genetic variation of adaptation to a tropical environment independent of growth duration. Additionally, there was considerable performance variation within temperate cultivars.

Peanut Cultivar Differences in Yield Based on Source and Sink Characteristics

This research was conducted to determine peanut cultivar differences in sink and source sizes as represented by vegetative growth and yields. Two sets of experiments were conducted at Bogor Agricultural University farms, Sawah Baru and Cikarawang (06 o 33’, S, 106 o 45’E, 250 m altitude). Planting was conducted on June 12 and June 20, 2007 using 20 local and national cultivars in each location. Both experiments used randomized complete block design with three replications. Data were analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. Size of experimental unit was 1.6 m x 4.0 m, with planting density 125,000 plants ha -1 . Urea, SP36 and KCl were applied at planting date in the rate of (kg ha -1 ) 45 N, 100 P 2 O5 and 50 K 2 O. Four stages of plant growth were studied: 25 days after planting (DAP); 6 weeks after planting (WAP); 10 WAP (pod filling) and 14 WAP (harvest). Five plants were sampled at 25 DAP, two plants at 6 WAP, 10 WAP and 14 WAP, and separated into leaves, stems, roots and pods. The average yield of two experimental stations showed that Biawak cultivar had the highest yield due to relatively higher aboveground dry weight (source), pod filling percentage and maximum number of gynophor+pods (potential sink). Jepara cultivar had the lowest yield due to low pod filling percentage and potential sink, although its source was considered to be in the medium category. Above ground dry weight at 6 and 10 WAP had close relation with Crop Growth Rate (CGR) during 25 DAP-6 WAP and 6-10 WAP, and the higher CGR during those periods were more related to leaf area index than to single leaf photosynthetic capacity. Keywords: crop growth rate, pod filling percentage, leaf area index, single leaf photosynthetic capacity