Koichi Futakuchi

Cultivar and Weeding Effects on Weeds and Rice Yields in a Degraded Upland Environment of the Coastal Savanna

Abstract Weeds are a major constraint to rice production in labor-limited, upland rice-based systems in West Africa. The effects of weeding regimes and rice cultivars on weed growth and rice yield were investigated at two upland locations (Abomey-Calavi and Niaouli) in the degraded coastal savanna zone of Benin in 2005 and 2006 with below-average rainfall. Four weeding regimes (hoe weeding at 21 d after sowing [DAS], delayed hoe weeding at 31 DAS, hoe weeding at 21 and 42 DAS, and a no weeding control) were the main plot treatments. Cultivars comprising three interspecific upland rice cultivars (NERICA 1, NERICA 2, and NERICA 7) and the parents (Oryza sativa WAB56-104 and O. glaberrima CG14) were tested in subplots. The most dominant weed species identified were Jamaican crabgrass, Mariscus, and silver spinach. Rice yield was generally low because of drought stress; none of the experiments had a higher mean yield than 1,400 kg ha−1 across cultivars. Across cultivars, the best weeding regimes in terms of weed control and rice yields were single weeding at 31 DAS (W31) and double weeding at 21 and 42 DAS (W21+42). Under these weeding regimes, WAB56-104 out-yielded the three NERICA cultivars. CG14 showed the strongest weed suppressive ability (WSA) in Abomey-Calavi but did not have strong WSA in Niaouli because of lower biomass accumulation. WSA of WAB56-104 was similar to that of the three NERICA cultivars. Single weeding at 31 DAS, together with the use of cultivars with good adaptation to unfavorable rice growing conditions, would increase land and labor productivity of upland rice-based systems in West Africa. Nomenclature: Jamaican crabgrass, Digitaria horizontalis Willd.; Mariscus, Mariscus alternifolius Vahl.; silver spinach, Celosia trigyna L.; rice, Oryza glaberrima Steud ‘CG14’; rice, Oryza sativa Linn. ‘WAB56-104’; rice, O. sativa × O. glaberrima, NERICA 1 ‘WAB450-IBP-38-HB’; rice, O. sativa × O. glaberrima, NERICA 2 ‘WAB450-11-1-P-31-1’; rice, O. sativa × O. glaberrima, NERICA 7 ‘WAB450-IBP-20-HB’.

Yield Potential and Physiological and Morphological Characteristics Related to Yield Performance in Oryza glaberrima Steud.

Abstract Oryza glaberrima has mostly been used as a source to improve stress resistance of Oryza sativa. Improvement of this species could be an approach to use its adaptability to local environments in Africa such as multiple resistance to several indigenous constraints. The yield of O. glaberrima was inferior to that of O. sativa under favorable growth conditions but not under unfavorable conditions. Moreover, spikelet number before grain shattering was no less in O. glaberrima than in O. sativa at any fertilizer input levels, suggesting that the yield potential of O. glaberrima is as high as that of O. sativa. Inferior yield of O. glaberrima reported in favorable environments could result from grain shattering enhanced by such growth environments where higher incidence of lodging, which is another undesirable character of O. glaberrima, can occur. Regarding characteristics associated to yield generation, O. glaberrima seemed to possess: higher dry matter production and greater leaf area than O. sativa at least until heading; a lower photosynthetic rate per leaf area but a higher rate against the same leaf nitrogen content in a low content range; higher responsiveness of dry matter, leaf area and leaf photosynthesis to increases in nitrogen inputs; lower water-use efficiency on dry matter accumulation and gas exchange bases; faster progress of leaf senescence during maturity; and faster completion of grain filling during maturity than O. sativa.

Agro-morphological characterization of a population of introgression lines derived from crosses between IR 64 (Oryza sativa indica) and TOG 5681 (Oryza glaberrima) for drought tolerance

The study evaluated effects of drought on some agro-morphological traits of 60 rice genotypes comprising 54 introgression lines with their parents, IR 64 (Oryza sativa) and TOG 5681 (Oryza glaberrima) and four NERICA-L varieties developed from the same parents for comparison. The genotypes were subjected either to full irrigation from sowing to maturity (control) or to 21-day drought applied by stopping irrigation from the 45th day after sowing (DAS) onward (drought) in the dry seasons of 2006 and 2007-2008. Plant height, spikelet fertility, grain yield and leaf area at harvesting were consistently reduced by drought in both seasons. Values of leaf temperature, leaf rolling, leaf tip drying, leaf blast, days from seeding to flowering and maturity were higher under drought. The results on SPAD and number of tillers were not consistent. Significant relationship (P<0.05) was observed between all traits evaluated and grain yield under drought. Introgression lines, SEN-L13-2, MPL-15-3, SEN-L10-1, SEN-L26-3 and SEN-L21-2 showed significantly higher yield than the highest yield NERICA-L variety (all of them had higher yield than the parents). Among them, SEN-L13-2 showed the lowest yield loss by drought and MPL-15-3 had high yield potential and considerably low yield loss by drought.

Upgrading the quality of Africa's rice: a novel artisanal parboiling technology for rice processors in sub‐Saharan Africa

Abstract In order to increase the quality of locally produced rice, the artisanal parboiling process in West and Central Africa was reconceptualized. A novel parboiling unit was constructed using stainless steel (Inox 304) and fitted directly on an improved stove made from fired bricks. The heat profile at different locations in the unit, the physicochemical properties, cooking properties of the parboiled rice, and the fuel efficiency of the stove were evaluated and compared with that of the traditional system. The heat flow in the new unit was from the top to the bottom while the reverse occurred in the traditional unit. The percent impurities and heat‐damaged grains, swelling and water uptake ratios, amylose content, stickiness, and cohesiveness were lower for rice produced using the improved technology (IT) compared to the traditional technology (TT). Whole grains (%), lightness (L*), yellowness (b*), cooking time, viscosity were higher for rice produced using the IT compared to the TT. Most of physicochemical and cooking properties of rice produced using the IT were not different from that of premium quality imported rice and this was achieved when steaming time was between 20–25 min. The improved stove recorded a lower time to boil water and specific fuel consumption and a higher burning rate and firepower at the hot‐start high‐power phase compared to the traditional stove. Most end users rated the IT as easy and safe to use compared to the TT. The new technology was code‐named “Grain quality enhancer, Energy‐efficient and durable Material (GEM) parboiling technology.”

Grain protein content of interspecific progenies derived from the cross of African rice (Oryza glaberrima Steud.) and Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Abstract The protein contents of the grain of 50 interspecific progenies developed from the cross between WAB56-104, an Oryza sativa variety, and CG 14, an Oryza glaberrima line, were investigated. In contrast to the higher protein content of O. glaberrima than O. sativa on the average, the protein content of CG 14 was always lower than that of WAB56-104. However, judging from the average of three seasons, 72% of the interspecific progenies had a higher protein content than the mid-parent and 50% of them had a higher protein content than WAB56-104. Although the actual values of protein content of the interspecific progenies were significantly different among the seasons, a highly significant correlation was always observed in protein content between any two of the three seasons. Protein content therefore was considered character of each interspecific progeny though it was also affected by environment. A significant correlation was not observed between paddy yield and protein content in any season; several interspecific progenies showed higher protein content and paddy yield than the mid-parents. A low paddy yield is likely to be associated with high protein content through physiological regulation without a genetic linkage between the two traits. However, the results suggest that the transgressive segregation of protein content observed in the interspecific progenies is attributed not to this physiological regulation but to a certain mechanism to concentrate protein in grains with a genetic background.

Multi-task Gaussian process for imputing missing data in multi-trait and multi-environment trials

Key messageA method based on a multi-task Gaussian process using self-measuring similarity gave increased accuracy for imputing missing phenotypic data in multi-trait and multi-environment trials.AbstractMulti-environmental trial (MET) data often encounter the problem of missing data. Accurate imputation of missing data makes subsequent analysis more effective and the results easier to understand. Moreover, accurate imputation may help to reduce the cost of phenotyping for thinned-out lines tested in METs. METs are generally performed for multiple traits that are correlated to each other. Correlation among traits can be useful information for imputation, but single-trait-based methods cannot utilize information shared by traits that are correlated. In this paper, we propose imputation methods based on a multi-task Gaussian process (MTGP) using self-measuring similarity kernels reflecting relationships among traits, genotypes, and environments. This framework allows us to use genetic correlation among multi-trait multi-environment data and also to combine MET data and marker genotype data. We compared the accuracy of three MTGP methods and iterative regularized PCA using rice MET data. Two scenarios for the generation of missing data at various missing rates were considered. The MTGP performed a better imputation accuracy than regularized PCA, especially at high missing rates. Under the ‘uniform’ scenario, in which missing data arise randomly, inclusion of marker genotype data in the imputation increased the imputation accuracy at high missing rates. Under the ‘fiber’ scenario, in which missing data arise in all traits for some combinations between genotypes and environments, the inclusion of marker genotype data decreased the imputation accuracy for most traits while increasing the accuracy in a few traits remarkably. The proposed methods will be useful for solving the missing data problem in MET data.

Daily Reference Evapotranspiration Estimation under Limited Data in Eastern Africa

AbstractThe objective of this study was to evaluate the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith (FAO-PM) reference evapotranspiration (ETo) equation and two Valiantzas equations for estimating daily reference evapo...

Genotypic Variation in Ability to Recover from Weed Competition at Early Vegetative Stage in Upland Rice

Abstract In northern Laos, weeds are a major constraint to upland rice production in slash-and-burn systems. Two experiments were conducted to assess genotypic variation in ability to recover from weed competition at the early vegetative stage. Three traditional and two improved (IR 55423-01 and B6144F-MR-6-0-0) cultivars were grown with or without maize as an artificial weed. Maize was seeded at the same time as rice and removed at 37 d after rice sowing. The two improved cultivars out-yielded the traditional cultivars without weed competition. Larger yield loss due to the competition was associated with longer delay in days to flowering and smaller plant height at 37 d after sowing. The use of B6144F-MR-6-0-0 with high yield potential as well as strong ability to recover from weed competition appears to improve and stabilize rice productivity in this region.

High-Yielding Performance of a New Rice Variety, IR53650 in Mildly Improved Acid Sulfate Soil Conditions

Acid sulfate soil is one of the problem soils in the tropical Asia and Africa, which is formed by oxidation of upcoming iron sulfate and pyrite from the bottom of ancient seas or lagoons (Suthipradit et al., 1995; Farina et al., 2000). In most cases, pH of acid sulfate soil becomes as low as nearly 3.0, and it causes low productivity in many kinds of the crops (Attanandana et al., 1999). In Narathiwat, Province in the most southern part of Thailand near the border to Malaysia, acid sulfate soil is a major cause of low yield of rice, and hence improvement of acid sulfate soil is an urgent issue (Kang et al., 2001). Application of lime is the most practical and useful means to improve the crop yield in acid soil conditions, but the increasing cost of lime is gradually making it difficult to cultivate rice in this region. A solution to this problem would be to cultivate acid soil-tolerant varieties using a small amount of lime (Clark et al., 1997). A few years ago, we identified the variety IR53650 as an acid soil-tolerant variety in a screening test which was made with the seedlings on a nursery bed (Kang and Ishii, 2003). IR53650 was developed by D. Senadhira of The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), initially as a submergence-tolerant variety. In this sense, the identification of IR53650 as an acid soil-tolerant variety might be incidental. The purpose of this study was to confirm the yielding performance of IR53650 cultivated in paddy fields with acid sulfate soil mildly improved by applying a small amount of lime in Narathiwat.

Effect of aluminum toxicity on flowering time and grain yield on rice genotypes differing in Al-tolerance

Aluminum is a major phytotoxic mineral in the soil at low pH conditions. The effect of aluminum (Al) on root length, flowering time, dry matter production, and grain yield was examined using two tolerant, Pungsan (PS) and Geumgang (GG), and one susceptible, IR36, rice varieties to acid soil. Rice seedlings were subjected to two Al treatments (+Al, 150 μM of Al; −Al, 0 μM of Al) in solution culture, where pH was always adjusted at 3.5. PS and GG showed significantly larger root length than IR36 in +Al at 2 and 8 weeks after the treatment (WAT). Flowering time was delayed 9 days in +Al compared to −Al in GG and PS and 27 days in IR36. Dry matter weight and grain yield of GG and PS were also significantly higher than those of IR36 under +Al. The inhibition of such agronomic traits by Al toxicity was less in Al-tolerant varieties than in a susceptible variety.