Studies on the development of an early-warning system to protect rice [Oryza sativa] against cool weather damage in the Tohoku Area [Japan]
2007
Kanda, E.(National Agricultural Research Center for Tohoku Region, Morioka (Japan))
Rice production in the Tohoku region, in the northern part of Japan, has been frequently and severely limited by unusually cool weather. Although studies have aimed to develop breeding programs to improve rice's cold tolerance and to improve cultivation technique, it is difficult to fully mitigate damage from cool weather. To help local farmers make effective decisions regarding cultivation techniques during cool weather, a system called the 'Early-warning system for cool weather damage' was developed that serves to distribute risk information concerning cool weather damage based on predictions made by a simulation model through the Internet. A simulation model of the system is composed of three submodels. First, the developmental stages from transplanting to maturity are estimated based on three phases: the leaf appearance phase, the panicle developmental phase, and the grain filling phase. Second, the percentage of sterile spikelets is estimated based on the amount of cool degree days with accounting for the developmental stages of young panicles. Third, the percentage of full ripening grain is estimated based on the developmental stage of grain filling when it is completed by low temperature. These submodels are integrated into the 'Early-warning system for cool weather damage' which has provided daily information regarding the risk of cool weather damage to local farmers in the Tohoku region via the Internet since 1996. Farmers have widely utilized this system to judge the timing of cultivation management, including deep water management to protect against cool weather.
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