The effects of cultivation methods and water regimes on root systems of drought-tolerant (RD6) and drought-sensitive (RD10) rice varieties of Thailand

In this study, we have attempted to investigate the effect of different water-saving cultivation techniques on root systems of two Thai rice varieties. The variables were two rice varieties (RD6 and RD10), two cultivation methods (dry direct seeding [DS] and transplanting [TP]) and two soil moisture regimes (field capacity [FC] and 50% FC). RD6 variety had higher root number, root length and root length density compared with RD10 under TP method at FC. Higher root number was observed for TP than dry DS method under FC at flowering stage with 543 and 415 roots plant^–1 for RD6 and 392 and 362 roots plant^–1 for RD10 cultivated under TP and dry DS methods, respectively. Root dry matter (DM) was the highest for RD6 cultivated through dry DS method compared with TP method at FC for both tillering and flowering stages. RD6 variety resulted in 25% and 50% higher root DM at FC for dry DS than TP at tillering and flowering stages, respectively. The performance of RD10 was poor under 50% FC and dry DS method. With proper selection of variety, dry DS method could be a better alternative for sustainable rice cultivation under water-limited environments.