How the rice crop works and why it needs a new engine
2007
Sheehy, J.E. | Ferrer, A.B., Crop and Environmental Sciences Division, International Rice Research Institute, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines | Mitchell, P.L., Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK | Elmido-Mabilangan, A. | Pablico, P. | Dionora, M.J.A., Crop and Environmental Sciences Division, International Rice Research Institute, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines
Rice is the most important crop in the world for human food. Over the past 40 years, its production has kept pace with the increase in population. However, it is clear that the gains of the first Green Revolution are largely exhausted. Rice with C4 photosynthesis could make a major contribution to a second Green Revolution. To assess how that change could affect rice, it is necessary to understand how the rice crop works. In this paper, we examine the properties of individual rice plants both as single individuals and as members of dense crop communities. To estimate the potential of C4 rice, we compare the yields and radiation-use efficiencies of maize, rice, and a C4 weed. In that context, the properties of rice canopies with respect to the interception of solar radiation and its effect on leaf temperature are examined. The influence of sink size with respect to source strength is also discussed. It is possible that wild rice types have some of the anatomical features peculiar to C4 plants and that the wild types may contain C3-C4 intermediates. Consequently, we report results obtained from an examination of C4 characteristics in the 22 species of wild rice.
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