EFFECT OF PLANTING DATE AND DENSITY ON GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS IN DOUBLE-CROPPING OF RICE

Rice is the second most important crop in Iran, hence raising its production in country level is highly important. Furthermore, farmers are interested to grow rice in a double-cropping system especially in Mazandaran province. To this, an experiment was conducted in Rice Research Institute of Iran in Amol to develop suitable rice production management as second crop. We used a recently developed cultivar i.e. Kuhsaar and tested effect of two factors including planting date in three levels with 10 days interval together with planting densities with three levels of 20x20, 25x25 and 15x30 cm. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 3 replications was used. The two factors were arranged in a factorial experiment lay-out and some important characters such as chlorophyll content, plant height, number of tillers and leaf area were evaluated in successive 10 weeks. Results indicated that there was significantly difference for planting dates while no significant difference was observed for planting densities and its interaction with planting dates. According to the result, it is highly recommended to plant rice earlier as much as possible as second double crop in summer after harvesting the main crop.

Keywords:

Date of planting , Density , Factorial experiment , RCBD , Rice