Effect of Seeding Rate on Organic Rice Production.

Seeding Rate Effects on Organic Rice Production Authors: Fugen Dou, Shu Wang, Shane Zhou and Anna McClung Increased demand for organic rice (Oryza sativa L.) has incentivized producer conversion from conventional to organically-managed rice production in the U.S. Little is known on the impacts of seeding rate on organic rice production. A completely randomized factorial design with four replications was conducted at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center at Beaumont to determine the effects of different seeding rates on organic rice grain yield and yield components using two popular cultivars, Presidio and XL753. Rice grain yield was significantly affected by the seeding rate. Increasing seeding rate linearly increased rice grain yield. Also, compared to the conventional cultivar, hybrid had greater yield. Seeding rate also affected rice yield component with most in panicle numbers. The 1000 grain weight was not affected by the seeding rate. This work provided important preliminary information on the effect of seeding rate on organic rice production and will continue as an ongoing effort to identify management practices which maximize rice yield and make it more sustainable for producers.