High Density Grain and Yield in MCE as Influenced by Number of Seedlings Per Hill at Varied Population Pressures

The high density grain and grain yield at different plant population were assessed at varied plant spacings and number of seedlings per hill in a rice var Rasi (an early duration variety) during kharif 1991. With increased plant spacing, characters such as height, panicle length and tiller number/hill increased. Production of more spikelets was associated with higher number of HD grains/m². Increase in seedling number per hill resulted in higher tiller and panicle number/m² but panicle length, spikelets, grains and HD grains and shoot weight decreased resulting in lower grain weight at all spacings. However, number and weight of HD grains were positively correlated with total grain yield. These studies indicate that increased plant population/m² contribute higher yields at single seedling planting.