Studies on the rice prolamine compositions and contents

Polamines are the major seed storage proteins in most of the sereals. The rice prolamines contain a high mole percentage of glutamine residues and low jevels of lysine, histidine,cystine, and methionine. Among the four coraponent of rice prolamiaes, 16KDa and 10KDa contsin more sulfate-riched amino acid residues.     

International Conference on Sustainable Rice Production - Policy, Technology and Extension Celebration Activity for International Year of Rice and World Food Day 2004

Rice is the staple food of more than half of the world's Population.The production,processing and management of paddy rice have provided the basic conditions for the living of mankind.The production of rice has not only created     

Rice–wheat cropping system: tillage,mulch, and nitrogen effects on soil carbon sequestration and crop productivity

Maintenance of organic carbon in soil (SOC) is critically important for sustained agricultural productivity and environmental quality. This paper presents SOC resulting from differences in tillage types and demonstrates how mulch and nitrogen (N) application can mediate the tillage functions on SOC and crop productivities. The results are derived from a 4-year field-scale study carried out in a low-land under sub-tropical hot and humid environment of Nepal. It compared eight treatment combinations, viz., tillage (no-tillage and conventional tillage), mulch (no-mulch and 12 Mg ha^?1 year^?1 of mulch), and N application (recommended versus leaf color chart method) under rice–wheat cropping system. Seasonal grain and biomass yields of these crops were recorded and at the end of the 4-year study, quantified the organic carbon stock of soil; Within 15 cm of surface soil, SOC stock (Mg C ha^?1) was statistically (p < 0.05) higher on no-tillage plots (11.2–11.8) than on conventional tillage plots (9.2–10.5). The treatment effect was more pronounced on winter wheat productivity where conventional tillage combined with straw-mulch exceled the performance of no-tillage. Clearly, no-tillage had the environmental benefit, and conventional tillage had the crop productivity benefit.     

【Short Report】Influence of the Improved System of Rice Intensification (SRI) on Rice Yield,Yield Components and Tillering Characteristics under Different Rice Establishment Methods

Abstract

The impacts of the system of rice intensification (SRI) and conventional management (CM) on grain yield, yield components and tillering capacity were examined under 4 rice establishment methods transplanting (TP), seedling casting (SC), mechanical transplanting (MT) and direct seeding (DS). SRI produced significantly higher grain yield than CM under TP and MT but not under DS or SC. DS and SC produced much higher seedling quality than TP or MT, suggesting that robust seedlings with vigorous roots weaken the positive effect of SRI on rice yield. SRI produced a higher tillering rate than CM, but did not affect ear-bearing tiller rate significantly. Moreover, the net photosynthetic rate of the recent fully expanded leaf at mid-tillering stage was significantly higher in SRI than in CM under MT and TP. The obtained results also indicated that SRI increased biomass accumulation before heading and improved utilization of photosynthates in the grain-filling stage.     

Effects of Bicarbonate and High pH Conditions on Zinc and Other Nutrients Absorption in Rice

Zinc deficiency was widely observed in calcareous soil where bicarbonate and high pH were always related with low zinc availability. In a hydroponic experiment, one zinc-efficient rice (IR36) and one zinc-inefficient rice (IR26) genotypes were employed to investigate the effects of bicarbonate and high pH conditions on absorption, transport of zinc and other nutrients (P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Mn) in rice. As compared with the control, high pH inhibited absorption, translocation and accumulation of zinc and other nutrients in both rice genotypes. Bicarbonate had minor effect on zinc-efficient rice genotype (IR36) whereas it could decrease zinc and other nutrient absorption in zinc-inefficient rice genotype (IR26). These results implied that increasing rice tolerance to bicarbonate is one of the most important strategies to improve rice adaptation for zinc-deficit calcareous soil.     

Effects of Nitrogen Fertilizer Treatments on Caryopsis Filling and Respiratory Rate of Rice

The application of N fertilizer has been reported to have a great effect on filling of caryopsis. For example, the dry matter of caryopsis derived from photosynthates by tillers and leaves at two stages i.e. before and after panicle emergence [1-4]. Moreover, proper utilization of N fertilizer can improve N content and photosynthetic rate [5-7], delay leaf senescence [7-9], and increase the amount of dry matter for grain filling, thus improve the productivity of rice [5-10]. On the other hand…     

Experiences with Rice Grown on Permanent Raised Beds: Effect of Crop Establishment Techniques on Water Use,Productivity, Profitability and Soil Physical Properties

In recent years, conventional rice production technologies have been leading to deterioration of soil health and declining farm profitability due to high inputs of water and labor. Conservation agriculture(CA) based resource-conserving technologies i.e. zero-tillage(ZT), raised-bed planting and direct-seeded rice(DSR) have shown promise as alternatives to conventional production technologies to overcome these problems. Present study was undertaken during 2009–2012 to establish an understanding of how permanent raised bed cropping system could be practiced to save water at the field application level to improve water productivity and also have the capability to enhance productivity, profitability and soil physical quality. The results showed that among different crop establishment techniques, conventional-tilled puddle transplanted rice(CT-TPR) required 14%-25% more water than other techniques. Compared with the CT-TPR system, zero till direct-seeded rice(ZT-DSR) consumed 6%–10% less water with almost equal system productivity and demonstrated higher water productivity. Wide raised beds saved about 15%–24% water and grain yield decrease of about 8%. Direct-seeded rice after ZT or reduced tillage or on unpuddled soil provided more net income than CT-TPR. The CTTPR system had higher bulk density and penetration resistance due to compaction caused by the repeated wet tillage in rice. The steady-state infiltration rate and soil aggregation( 0.25 mm) were higher under permanent beds and ZT and lower in the CT-TPR system. Under CT-TPR, soil aggregation was static across seasons, whereas it improved under no-till and permanent beds. Similarly, mean weight diameter of aggregates was higher under ZT and permanent beds and increased over time. The study reveals that to sustain the rice productivity, CA-based planting techniques can be more viable options. However, the long-term effects of these alternative technologies need to be studied under varying agro-ecologies in western Uttar Pradesh, India.     

Effects of Soil Copper Concentration on Growth, Development and Yield Formation of Rice （Oryza sativa）

Pot experiments were conducted in 2002 and 2003 to investigate the effects of soil copper（Cu） concentration on growth, development and yield formation of rice by using the japonica cultivar Wuxiangjing 14 and hybrid rice combination Shanyou 63. The plant height, leaf number, elongated internode number and heading date of rice plants were not affected at soil Cu levels below 200 mg/kg, but affected significantly at above 400 mg/kg. The inhibitory effects on rice growth and development were increased with the increment of soil Cu levels. The grain yields decreased significantly with raising soil Cu levels. The main reasons for the grain yield reductions under lower soil Cu levels （100, 200 mg/kg） were mainly due to the decrease of number of spikelets per panicle, however, under higher soil Cu levels （more than 400 mg/kg）, both panicle number and number of spikelets per panicle contributed to the yield loss. The decreases of panicle number by Cu stress were mainly attributed to slow recovery from transplanting, delayed tillering and reduced maximum tiller numbers. The reduction of number of spikelets per panicle under soil Cu stress resulted from the decreases of both shoot dry weight （SDW） at the heading date and the ratio of spikelets to SDW. Total biomass at maturity decreased significantly with the increase of soil Cu levels, while economic coefficient showed non-significant decrease except under soil Cu levels above 800 mg/kg.     

Hardness Distribution and Endosperm Structure on Polishing Characteristics of Brewer’s Rice Kernels

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the effects of the hardness distribution and the endosperm structure on the polishing characteristics of brewer’s rice kernels. We used four brewer’s rice cultivars, Kairyo-omachi, Hattan-nishiki No. 1, Senbon-nishiki and Yamada-nishiki. The broken kernel ratios in Kairyo-omachi and Hattan-nishiki No. 1 were significantly higher than those in Senbon-nishiki and Yamada-nishiki. Vickers hardness (VH) values in white-core tissues in kernels differed among varieties, which were significantly lower in Kairyo-omachi and Hattan-nishiki No. 1. However, no varietal differences were observed in VH values in the peripheral translucent tissues surrounding the white-core tissues. The tissues along the dorsoventral axis were softer than those along the longitudinal axis of the kernels. The tissues on the ventral side were softer than those on the dorsal side. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations revealed the presence of closely arranged compound starch granules and few varietal differences in the peripheral translucent tissues surrounding the white-core tissues. However, as compared with Yamada-nishiki and Senbon-nishiki, in Hattan-nishiki No. 1 and Kairyo-omachi, the starch granules were loosely packed and the airspaces between the starch granules were more numerous in the white-core tissues. A higher number of airspaces and less starch were present in the endosperm cells along the dorsoventral axis when compared with along the longitudinal axis and on the ventral side than on the dorsal side. The present study showed that polishing characteristics are closely related with the endosperm structure, which is characterized as the density of starch granules.     

Effects of Different Nitrogen Fertilizer Levels on Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn Concentrations in Shoot and Grain Quality in Rice （Oryza sativa）

In a pot experiment, effects of N fertilizer application on the concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn in shoot of rice and the quality of brown rice were studied. In the treatments with N fertilizer application, the concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn in most parts of rice shoot increased compared with control (no N fertilizer application). This indicated that the transportation ability of microelements from root to shoot in rice was improved with N fertilizer application. Effect of N fertilizer on IR68144 was similar to that of on IR64, but the concentrations of the microelements in plant differed, suggesting that the characteristic expression of the two rice genotypes was not controlled by the amount of N fertilizer supplied. The concentrations of those microelements in brown rice increased at first and then decreased with increasing N fertilizer application, reaching the highest at 160 kg/ha, at which the Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn concentrations in brown rice increased by 28.96%, 41.34%, 58.31% and 16.0% for IR64, and by 22.16%, 13.75%, 8.75% and 20.21% for IR68144 compared with control, respectively. Moreover, N fertilizer promoted the accumulation of protein, decreased the accumulation of amylose in grain, and enhanced gel consistency of brown rice. These results indicate that appropriate N fertilizer management could increase micronutrient contents in grain and improve nutrition quality of rice.     

Rice Varieties and Their Genealogy in China

Editors-in-chief Profs, LiN Shicheng, MIN Shaokai The book has summarized the achievements and experiences of rice breeding in China in the past several decades through analysing rice varieties developed in China, their parentage, breeding methods, selected years and genealogy, and recorded about 1600 conventional varieties, hybrid combinations and related maintainers and restorers, and their main economic characteris     

Super Rice Cropping Will Enhance Rice Yield and Reduce CH4 Emission： A Case Study in Nanjing,China

A pot experiment was performed to learn the differences in plant productivity and OH4 emission between two rice cultivars, super rice variety Ningjing 1 and traditional variety Zhendao 11, which were currently commercially appUed in Nanjing, China. Similar seasonal changes of CH4 emission fluxes and soil solution CH4 contents were found between the tested cultivars. Although there was no significant difference in plant biomass production between the cultivars, the grain yield of Ningjing 1 was significantly higher by 35.0% （P 〈 0.05） than that of Zhendao 11, whereas the total CH4 emission from Ningjing 1 was 35.2% lower （P 〈 0.05）. The main difference in the amounts of CH4 emission between the cultivars occurred in the period from the tillering stage to the heading stage. The biomass-scaled and yield-scaled CH4 emissions were respectively 3.8 and 5.2 mg/g for Ningjing 1, significantly lower than those for Zhendao 11 （7.4 and 12.8 mg/g, respectively）. According to the relationships between the plant growth characteristics and the CH4 emission, a stronger root system contributed mainly to the lower CH4 emission of Ningjing 1, as compared with Zhendao 11. Our results demonstrated that super rice has advantages not only in grain productivity but also in CH4 emission mitigation. Further expansion of super rice cropping will enhance rice yield and reduce greenhouse gas emission in China.     

Workshop on Simulation and Systems Analysis for Rice Production （SARP） held at CNRRI

A meeting for rice quality criteria was held in China National Rice Research Inst. (CNRRI) on 17—19 May. Ninety—eight samples were collected from different rice—growing regions in 20 provinces for competition. According to the analytical results including appearances, milling, cooking and eating qualities, the experts selected 9 high quality rice varieties (3 indica, 6 japonica) and 15 high quality commodity rices (8 indica, 7 japonica). All samples of high quality rices were exhibited at the 2nd National Agricultural Fair in Oct 1995, Beijing.     

Workshop on Simulation and Systems Analysis for Rice Production(SARP) held at CNRRI

SARP Workshop on risk analysis of agroecological zonation and optimization of crop rotation was held at CNRRI's research center on 24—27 Oct, 1995. Experts from Philippines, India, China, and IRRI were present in the workshop. Participants exchanged the research results on the field of land use, soil erosion. optimization of rice—wheat, rice—peanut, rice—corn cropping system in the different environments, risk analysis of rice based cropping system, nitrogen balance in rice based cropping system with system approach, demonstrated models used in their studies, and discussed the ongoing cooperative research.     

Effects of 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene and Mercury Ion Stress on Ca^2＋ Fluxion and Protein Phosphorylation in Rice

The effects of 5 mg/L 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (TCB) and 0.1 mmol/L mercury ion (Hg2 ) stresses on Ca2 fluxion and protein phosphorylation in rice seedlings were investigated by isotope exchange kinetics and in vitro phosphorylation assay. The Ca2 absorption in rice leaves and Ca2 transportation from roots to leaves were promoted significantly in response to Hg2 and TCB treatments for 4-48 h. The Ca2 absorption peaks presented in the leaves when the rice seedlings were exposed to Hg2 for 8-12 h or to TCB for 12-24 h. Several Ca2 absorption peaks presented in the roots during rice seedlings being exposed to Hg2 and TCB, and the first Ca2 absorption peak was at 8 h after being exposed to Hg2 and TCB. The result of isotope exchange kinetic analysis confirmed that short-term (8 h) Hg2 and TCB stresses caused Ca2 channels or pumps located on plasmalemma to open transiently. The phosphorylation assay showed that short-term TCB stress enhanced protein phosphorylation in rice roots (TCB treatment for 4-8 h) and leaves (TCB treatment for 4-24 h), and short-term (4-8 h) Hg2 stress also enhanced protein phosphorylation in rice leaves. The enhancement of protein phosphorylation in both roots and leaves corresponded with the first Ca2 absorption peak, which confirmed that the enhancement of protein phosphorylation caused by TCB or Hg2 stress might be partly triggered by the increases of cytosolic calcium. TCB treatment over 12 h inhibited protein phosphorylation in rice roots, which might be partly due to that TCB stress suppressed the protein kinase activity. Whereas, Hg2 treatment inhibited protein phosphorylation in rice roots, and Hg2 treatment over 12 h inhibited protein phosphorylation in rice leaves. This might be attributed to that not only the protein kinase activity, but also the expressions of phosphorylation proteins were restrained by Hg2 stress.     

Xiangyou 63, a Quasi-aromatic Hybrid Rice with Good Quality and High Yield

Xiangyou 6 3wasdevelopedatHHRRCusingaro maticcytoplasmicmalesterilelineXiangxiang 2Aandnon aromaticrestorerlineMinghui 6 3.ItwasreleasedtofarmersinJan 1995 .Xiangyou 6 3isthefirstquasi aro matichybridriceinChina ,andXiangxiang 2A ,devel opedfromthecrossV2 0A∥V2 0B/MR36 5byHHRRC ,isthefirstaromaticCMSlineinChina .Thehybridhassofarbeenplantedonmorethan 2 0 0 0 0hm2 andseemspop ularwithfarmersandconsumers .Inadditiontobeingaro matic ,thehybridhasgoodgrainquality ,high yieldinga bility…     

Studies on the source-sink characteristics and the seedsetting rate in indica-japonica hybrid rice

To study the differences of source-sink characteristics and seed-setting rate between indica/japonica hybrid rice and indica/indica hybrid rice, we conducted this experiment in Yintan City, Jiangxi Province,in 1993. The indica/japonica hybrid rice tested were: Jiangnongzao ⅡA/1044, Jiangnongzao ⅡA/1044zao, Jiangnongzao ⅡA/1046, and 5460s/Guangkanggen 2.The indica/indica hybrid rice tested was Shanyou 63. They were planted in late season, with a transplanting space of 16.7cm×20cm. At the heading stage, the leaf areas were measured, and the experiment of cutting off leaves or spikelets was conducted. The resuts indicated that:     

Studies on α-amylase and trypsin inhibitors in legume seeds using agar diffusion and isoelectric focusing techniques

Amylolytic and tryptic inhibitors of faba bean extracts were determined by an agar diffusion test. The amylolytic inhibitor had protein characters. Furthermore, water-soluble trypsin inhibitors ofCicer arietinum, Lens esculenta, Lupinus termis, Phaseolus vulgaris, Pisum sativum, Trigonella foenum-graecum andVicia faba which were separated by polyacrylamide gel isoelectric focusing (PAGIF) in thin-layers, showed species specific patterns. Negative staining showed 10 bands for French beans, 9 for fenugreek seeds, 8 for lentils and chickpeas, 7 for peas and 6 for faba beans. Lupin seeds were free from trypsin inhibitors. Treatments (soaking, germination and heat processing) of faba beans reduced the number of trypsin inhibitors in PAGIF patterns, less after soaking and germination, but more after roasting and frying. No inhibitors were detected after cooking.