Register      Login
Animal Production Science Animal Production Science Society
Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Nitrogen fertiliser alleviates the disorder straighthead in Australian rice

B. W. Dunn A B D , G. D. Batten B C , T. S. Dunn A B , R. Subasinghe A and R. L. Williams A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A NSW Department of Primary Industries, Yanco Agricultural Institute, Yanco, NSW 2703, Australia.

B Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Rice Production, Yanco, NSW 2703, Australia.

C Farrer Centre, Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: brian.dunn@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46(8) 1077-1083 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA05004
Submitted: 17 January 2005  Accepted: 18 October 2005   Published: 5 July 2006

Abstract

Straighthead is a ‘physiological’ disorder of rice, the symptoms being floret sterility, deformed florets and panicles and reduced grain yield. Straighthead in rice is difficult to investigate because of its unpredictable occurrence under field conditions. An experiment was conducted in south-eastern Australia in 1996 to investigate the effect of rate and timing of N fertilisation on growth and yield of rice. The presence of straighthead at this location gave a unique opportunity to study the influence of crop N status. This paper reports the influence of N application on straighthead symptoms during this experiment. A significant reduction of straighthead occurred with higher rates of N application. Application of 250 kg N/ha pre-flood, improved plant growth and vigour with subsequent increased uptake and accumulation of S, P, K, Mg, Cu, Mn and Zn in the plant at panicle initiation. The reduction of straighthead at high nitrogen rates may be due to improved uptake of several essential nutrients, and Cu may be a critical nutrient. This study and earlier observations have shown the application of optimal levels of pre-flood nitrogen to achieve grain yields greater than 10 t/ha may reduce straighthead severity in the Australian rice-growing environment. The results in this paper are not presented as recommendations to growers but a contribution to the currently limited literature on straighthead in Australia.

Additional keywords: Oryza sativa, plant essential nutrients.


Acknowledgments

We would like to thank John Smith who organised the site, sowed the urea and header harvested the trial and Arun Aryan and Geoff Beecher for providing particularly useful comments on the manuscript.


References


Alloway BJ, Jewell AW, Murray B, Tills AR (1983) The effects of subclinical copper deficiency on pollen formation and yield in cereals. Heavy Metals In The Environment 2, 1067–1070. open url image1

Ambak K, Tadano T (1991) Effects of micronutrient application on the growth and occurrence of sterility in barley and rice in a Malaysian deep peat soil. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition 37, 715–724. open url image1

Ando T, Yoshida S, Nishiyama I (1983) Nature of oxidising power of rice roots. Plant and Soil 72, 57–71.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Batten GD, Blakeney AB, Glennie-Holmes M, Henry RJ, McCaffery A, Bacon PE, Heenan DP (1991) Rapid determination of shoot nitrogen status in rice using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 54, 191–197. open url image1

Colwell JD (1963) The estimation of the phosphorus fertiliser requirements of wheat in southern New South Wales by soil analysis. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 3, 190–197.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Dilday RH, Slaton NA, Gibbons JW, Moldenhauer KA, Yan WG (2000) Straighthead of rice as influenced by arsenic and nitrogen. Research Series Arkansas Agricultural Experimental Station 2000, 201–214. open url image1

Dilday RH, Yan WG, Slaton NA, Gibbons JW, Moldenhauer KA (2001) Straighthead of rice as influenced by arsenic and nitrogen. Research Series Arkansas Agricultural Experimental Station 2001, 124–131. open url image1

Dobermann A, Fairhurst TH  (2000) ‘Rice: nutrient disorders and nutrient management.’ (Potash and Phosphate Institute: Las Banos)

Flessa H, Fischer WR (1992) Plant-induced changes in the redox potentials of rice rhizospheres. Plant and Soil 143, 55–60.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Gilmour JT, Wells BR (1980) Residual effects of MSMA on sterility in rice cultivars. Agronomy Journal 72, 1066–1067. open url image1

Gravois KA, Helms RS (1996) Quantifying yield and milling losses in rice due to straighthead. Research Series Arkansas Agricultural Experimental Station. No. 453. pp. 133–138.

Heenan DP (1984) Low-temperature induced floret sterility in the rice cultivars Calrose and Inga as influenced by nitrogen supply. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 24, 255–259.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Hollis JP, Allam AI, Pitts G (1972) Sulfide diseases of rice. Phytopathology 62, 764–765. open url image1

Inada K, Baba I (1958) Eco-physiological studies on the roots of rice plants. 1. Relationships between several characteristicsof roots and absorption of nutrients. Journal of Agricultural Science 13, 289–293. open url image1

Joshi MM, Ibrahim IKA, Hollis JP (1975) Hydrogen sulphide: Effects on the physiology of rice plants and relation to straighthead disease. Phytopathology 65, 1165–1170. open url image1

Kataoka T, Matsuo K, Kon T, Komatsu Y (1983) Factors of the occurrence of straighthead 1. The occurrence of straighthead by the application of barley straws in paddy fields. Nihon Sakumotsu Gakkai Kiji 52, 349–354. open url image1

McDonald DJ, Lewin LG, Boerema EB, Blakeney AB, Horth MT (1971) Annual report of the rice section, 1970–71. Yanco Agricultural College and Research Station, Yanco, NSW.

McDonald DJ, Lewin LG, Boerema EB, Blakeney AB, Swain DJ, Jones EL (1972) Annual report, rice research, 1971–72. Yanco Agricultural College Research Station, Yanco, NSW.

Mitsui S, Kumazawa K (1964) Dynamic studies on the nutrient uptake by crop plants. 41. Nutrient and redox-conditions. Journal of Soil Science Manure, Japan 35, 115–118. open url image1

Mizuno N, Kamada K (1982) Method of judging copper deficiency from the concentration of soluble copper in the soils and copper:iron ratio in wheat plants. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition 28, 27–36. open url image1

Okajima H (1958) The relationship between the nitrogen deficiency in rice roots and the reduction of the medium. Journal of Soil Science Manure, Japan 29, 175–180. open url image1

Rasamivelona A, Gravois KA, Dilday RH (1995) Heritability and genotype × environment interactions for straighthead in rice. Crop Science 35, 1365–1368. open url image1

Rayment GE, Higginson FR (1992) ‘Australian laboratory handbook of soil and water chemical methods.’ (Inkata Press: Melbourne)

Ricecheck (2001) ‘Ricecheck recommendations — a guide to objective rice crop management for improving yields, grain quality and profits, and for economic and environmental sustainability.’ (NSW Agriculture and Rice Research and Development Committee: Yanco)

Slaton NA, Wilson CEJr , Ntamatungiro S, Norman RJ, Boothe DL (2000) Evaluation of new varieties to straighthead susceptibility. Research Series Arkansas Agricultural Experimental Station. No. 476. pp. 313–317.

Smith R (1945) Soils of the Berriqin Irrigation District, NSW. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Bulletin No. 189.

Takeoka Y, Tsutsui Y, Matsuo K (1990) Morphogenetic alterations of spiklets on a straighthead panicle in rice. Nihon Sakumotsu Gakkai Kiji 59, 785–791. open url image1

Tullis EC (1941) Straighthead. 54th Annual report. Texas Agricultural Experimental Station, College Station.

Williams P (2003) Investigating links between minerals in rice grain and straighthead. CRC for Sustainable rice production. Project 2303, final report. Yanco, NSW.

Williams RL, Angus JF (1994) Deep floodwater protects high-nitrogen rice crops from low-temperature damage. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 34, 927–932.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Zarcinas BA, Cartwright B, Spouncer LR (1987) Nitric acid digestion and multielement analysis of plant material by inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 20, 539–553. open url image1