NITROGEN AND YIELD POTENTIAL OF IRRIGATED RICE

Yield potential of modern rice varieties and implications for N management were evaluated in a series of field studies that provided data for validation of an eco-physiological simulation model for rice. We tested the hypothesis that N was the major factor limiting yield potential of irrigated rice. The simulation model ORYZA1 was used to evaluate the observed yield differences between varieties grown with different N management and in different environments. The model explained differences in yield of the treatments resonably well on the basis of differences in radiation, temperature, leaf N content and variety coefficients for phenological development. It was demonstrated by the model and experimental data that yield levels of 6 t ha(-1) in the wet season and 10 t ha(-1) in the dry season can be obtained in the tropics with the current short duration varieties only when the N supply from soil and fertilizer is adequately maintained at key growth stages. Yield probabilities for rice crops were simulated for different environments using long term weather data at two Philippine sites.