Effect of plant spacing and intermittent flooding on growth and yield of selected lowland rice varieties in Kenya
Paper Details
Effect of plant spacing and intermittent flooding on growth and yield of selected lowland rice varieties in Kenya
Abstract
A study was carried out with specific objectives of: (1) to determine the effect of intermittent flooding on growth and yield of selected rice varieties; and (2) to determine the effect of spacing on growth and yield of selected rice varieties. The treatments, comprising two irrigation regimes (intermittent flooding and continuous flooding), three varieties (TXD 306, Basmati 370 and IR-2793-80-1) and four different plant spacing arrangements (15cm ×15cm, 20cm ×15cm, 25cm ×15cm and 30cm ×15cm) were laid out in a randomized complete block design with a split-split plot arrangement. In the first season, IR-2793-80-1 had significantly higher net grain yield than Basmati 370 and TXD 306, while in the second season TXD 306 had significantly higher net grain yield than the other two varieties. Plant spacing of 30×15cm had the highest number of panicles per plant in both seasons, while 15×15cm plant spacing had higher net grain yield than 25×15cm and 30×15cm in both seasons. Intermittent flooding didn’t only lead to higher net grain yield but also helped to save 44.4% irrigation water compared to continuous flooding. This study has demonstrated that cultivation of the recently introduced variety TXD 306, intermittent flooding and use of 15×15cm plant spacing have a potential to improve rice productivity with less water consumption in Mwea Irrigation Scheme.
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