Rice Genomics and Genetics 2015, Vol.6, No.3, 1-5
1
Research Report Open Access
Effect of
Stylosanthes guianensis
and Upland Rice Intercropping Ssystem to Rice
Productivity
K. Songyikhangsuthor
1
, B. K. Samson
2
1. Northern Agriculture and Forestry Research Center (NAFReC), Houay Khot village, Xieng Ngeun district, Luang Prabang province, P.O.BOX 487, Lao PDR
2. International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Lao PDR Office
Corresponding author email:
Rice Genomics and Genetics, 2015, Vol.6, No.3 doi: 10.5376/rgg.2015.06.0003
Received: 26 Feb., 2015
Accepted: 28 Apr., 2015
Published: 01 May., 2015
Copyright
©
2015
Songyikhangsuthor and Samson, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:
Songyikhangsuthor and Samson, 2015, Effect of
Stylosanthes guianensis
and Upland Rice Intercropping Ssystem to Rice Productivity, Rice Genomics and
Genetics, Vol.6, No.3 1
-
5 (doi:
10.5376/rgg.2015.06.0003
)
Abstract
Upland rice grown with legume crop is thought to help in the nitrogen economy of the rice field, improve soil organic
matter content through litter fall, and contributes to the control of weeds. Therefore, the objective of this study is to optimize
establishment, survival of
Stylosanthes
plants and to achieve
Stylosanthes
biomass accumulation during fallow period for subsequent
rice crop season, while minimizing competition with rice crop during
Stylosanthes
establishment.
Stylosanthes
was broadcasted and
seeded in line four weeks after rice sowing at rate of 4 gm-2. The effect of
Stylosanthes
establishment on tiller number, plant height,
biomass, panicle length, spikelet fertility, 1000 seed weight and rice grain yield was evaluated. Number of plants, plant height,
canopy width and biomass of
Stylosanthes
also were measured. No competition effect on rice-
Stylosanthes
intercropping treatment
was observed when compared with rice monoculture. Number of
Stylosanthes
plants and its biomass was about 3 times greater when
Stylosanthes
was line-sown than broadcasted into the rice stand. Similarly,
stylosanthes
plants were taller and its canopy was wider
when line-sown than when broadcasted. Further it needs to evaluate the effect of relay-seeding
Staylosanthes
residuals either as
short–term or long-term fallow crops in improving rice productivity.
Keywords
Intercropping systems;
Slylosanthes guianensis
; Upland rice cultivation
Introduction
Most upland rice is produced in slash-and-burn
agriculture systems as a dominant land use system in
northern region of Laos. Currently, rapid population
growth in combination with government policy on
reducing areas under this land-use systems have
resulted in increasing cropping intensity, which has
increased weed problem, soil deterioration and
consequently reduced yield of upland rice. The use
legume cover during the time of crop still stand or
after harvested of main crop for improved of land soil
fertility before other routine cycle of crops into rice
based cropping systems either as a component of
rotation or through intercropping system (Roder, 2001,
Roder and Maniphone, 1995).
Stylosan
-
thes
was used
as cover crop have a positive effects in controlling
weeds, improving soil fertility, improving crop yield,
providing livestock feed and additional income
through seed production, but the planted methods was
for broadcasting than it growth was not very well by
intercropping system under upland condition and
mostly planted by rotation and at the station only (Carsky,
Becker, et al., 2001, Tarawali, Manyong, et al.,
1999). However, introdu-ced legume cover crops
into upland rice through intercropping may also
compete strongly with rice and adversely affect
grain yield when it is not properly managed. Hence,
there is a need to investigate different ways of
establishing and growing the rice-legume
association so that rice productivity is favored and
to optimize survival of
Stylosanthes
plants and to
achieve high
Stylosanthes
biomass accumulation
after rice harvest period for subsequent rice crop
season in the farmer’s field.
1 Results and Discussion
The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there
were no significant interactions between locations
and location x treatments. There was statistical
significant difference in some rice yield component
(number of grain per panicle and spikelet fertility)
and grin yield among treatment tested and also
significant interaction between locations and
treatments (Table 1).
