K. Songyikhangsuthor¹ , B. K. Samson²

1. Northern Agriculture and Forestry Research Center (NAFReC), Houay Khot village, Xieng Ngeun district, Luang Prabang province, P.O.BOX 487, Lao PDR
2. International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Lao PDR Office
Author    Correspondence author
Rice Genomics and Genetics, 2015, Vol. 6, No. 3   doi: 10.5376/rgg.2015.06.0003
Received: 27 Feb., 2015    Accepted: 28 Apr., 2015    Published: 01 May, 2015

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Songyikhangsuthor and Samson, 2015, Effect of Stylosanthes guianensis and Upland Rice Intercropping Ssystem to Rice Productivity, Rice Genomics and Genetics, Vol.6, No.3 1-5 (doi: 10.5376/rgg.2015.06.0003)

Upland rice grown with legume crop is thought to help in the nitrogen economy of the rice field, improve soil organic matter content through litter fall, and contributes to the control of weeds. Therefore, the objective of this study is to optimize establishment, survival of Stylosanthes plants and to achieve Stylosanthes biomass accumulation during fallow period for subsequent rice crop season, while minimizing competition with rice crop during Stylosanthes establishment. Stylosanthes was broadcasted and seeded in line four weeks after rice sowing at rate of 4 gm-2. The effect of Stylosanthes establishment on tiller number, plant height, biomass, panicle length, spikelet fertility, 1000 seed weight and rice grain yield was evaluated. Number of plants, plant height, canopy width and biomass of Stylosanthes also were measured. No competition effect on rice-Stylosanthes intercropping treatment was observed when compared with rice monoculture. Number of Stylosanthes plants and its biomass was about 3 times greater when Stylosanthes was line-sown than broadcasted into the rice stand. Similarly, stylosanthes plants were taller and its canopy was wider when line-sown than when broadcasted. Further it needs to evaluate the effect of relay-seeding Staylosanthes residuals either as short–term or long-term fallow crops in improving rice productivity.

Intercropping systems; Slylosanthes guianensis, Upland rice cultivation