Rice cultivars adaptable for rice based cropping systems in a paddy field in the Yeongnam plain area of Korea

This study was conducted to investigate suitable rice cultivars for various rice based cropping systems in a paddy field in the Yeongnam plain area. Thirteen rice cultivars (5 early, 3 medium and 5 mid-late maturing cultivars) and three transplanting dates (June 5, June 25 and July 5) were evaluated in this study. The mid-late and early maturing cultivars for the July 5 and June 25 transplanting headed before August 30 which is the safe heading date in the Yeongnam plain area, ranging from Aug. 26 - 28 and Aug. 18 - 23, respectively. The safe harvest time of rice for double and triple cropping systems should be before the middle of October for the cultivation of the succeeding winter crops. The rice yield was the highest for the June 5 transplanting regardless of the rice cultivars, and it gradually decreased as the transplanting date was delayed from June 5 to July 5 due to a decrease in the spikelet numbers per panicle number and in the ripened grain rate. In contrast, the other yield parameters that include the panicle number per $m^2$, the 1,000-brown rice weight, and the ripened grain ratio were not significantly affected. The result indicates that based on the milled rice, heading time and harvest time, a medium maturing cultivar (Haiami and Samdeog) would be applicable to a winter barley/wheat, garlic/onion-summer rice double cropping, while a mid-late cultivar (Saeilmi, Saenuri and Hyunpoom) would be suitable for a spring potato/waxy corn-summer rice double cropping in the Yeongnam plain area. On the other hand, an early maturing cultivar (Unkwang, Jokwang and Haedamssal) would be preferable for a triple cropping because of the short growth period of rice.