Abstract:
A Field experiment was conducted in Kuru Plateau State, Nigeria, during the dry and wet
seasons of 2016, 2017 and 2018 to study the effect of seedling age and row spacing on the
production of rice. A lowland variety FARO 44 was used for the trial and the treatments used
consisted of four seedling ages of 15,17,19 and 35-days after the seeds were sown in the nursery
with direct seeded as control, three different inter and intra row spacings of 15cmx15cm,
20cmx20cm and 25cmx25cm and two seasons (wet and dry). Seedling age and the row spacings
were factorially combined and laid in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and
replicated 3 times. Six separate trials were carried out, three during the dry season and three
during the wet season. The results indicated that seedling age, row spacing and cropping season,
had significant (P?0.05) effect on the growth and yield characters of the crop. Transplanting 19-
day old seedlings produced significantly (P?0.05)taller plants with more tillers, panicles/hill,
spikelets/panicle, higher seed weight and grain yield than the other seedling ages used. Similarly,
growing the crop at row spacing of 25x25cm produced significantly (P?0.05) taller plants with
higher number of tillers, more panicles/hill, spikelets/panicle, higher seed weight and grain yield
than the other spacings used. Growing the crop during the dry season on the other hand,
produced significantly (P?0.05) higher number of tillers, seed weight and grain yield, while the
wet season cropping had taller plants, heavier panicles and more spikelets/panicle. Based on the
results obtained, transplanting 19-day old seedlings at a row spacing of 25x25cm during the dry
season seemed more promising for higher rice production in the study area |
