Relationship between Plastochrone and Development Indices Estimated by a Nonparametric Rice Phenology Model

Prediction of rice developmental stage is necessary for proper crop management and a prerequisite for growth simulation as well. The objectives of the present study were to find out the relationship between the plastochrone index(PI) and the developmental index(DVI) estimated by non-parametric phenology model which simulates the duration from seedling emergence(DVI=0) to heading(DVI=l) by employing daily mean air temperature and daylength as predictor variables, and to confirm the correspondency of developmental indice to panicle developmental stages based on this relationship. Four japonica rice cultivars, Kwanakbyeo, Sangpungbyeo, Dongjinbyeo, and Palgumbyeo which range from very early to very late in maturity, were grown by sowing directly in dry paddy field five times at an interval of two weeks. Data for seedling emergence, leaf appearance, differentiation stage of primary rachis branch and heading were collected. The non-parametric phenology model predicted well the duration from seedling emergence to heading with errors of less than three days in all sowings and cultivars. PI was calculated for every leaf appearance and related to the developmental index estimated for corresponding PI. The stepwise polynomial analysis produced highly significant square-rooted cubic or biquadratic equations depending on cultivars, and highly significant square-rooted biquadratic equation for pooled data across cultivars without any considerable reduction in accuracy compared to that for each cultivar. To confirm the applicability of this equation in predicting the panicle developmental stage, DVI at differentiation stage of primary rachis branch primordium was calculated by substituting PI with 82 corresponding to this stage, and the duration reaching this DVI from seedling emergence was estimated. The estimated duration revealed a good agreement with that observed in all sowings and cultivars. The deviations between the estimated and the observed were not greater than three days, and significant difference in accuracy was not found for predicting this developmental stage between those equations derived for each cultivar and for pooled data across all cultivars tested.