Causal mechanism for determination of grain yield and milling quality of lowland rice

The objective of the paper was to present the analysis of a complex causal mechanism for determination of grain yield and milling quality that occurred among 15 traits of lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.). The 2-year study of 52 genotypes showed that grain yield per plant depended (positively) mostly on no. of branches per panicle, followed by no. of effective tillers per plant, plant height, plant length, and flag leaf area. Quality of milling depended mostly on flag leaf area (also positively). No. of days to mid-flowering and to maturity influenced grain yield per plant and quality of milling, but in the 2 years of this study, the direction of the influence was opposite-negative in 2000 and positive in 2001. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.