Study on yield and yield components of three local glutinous rice varieties compared to the recommended rice variety, RD 6 under organic paddy field managements during the 2011 rainy season

Abstract

Local glutinous rice have been grown generally at rural areas in the northeast and the north of Thailand especially on upper part of these two regions. The local glutinous rice are deeply related to ways of farmer life and also their household food security. Moreover, the official-recommended rice varieties are attributed to high cost of production for chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The objectives of this research were to compare the yield components and grain yields of three local glutinous rice varieties, Tom Daeng,Tom Hom and Low Taek, to the official-recommended rice variety, RD 6, and to study the physical and biological factors concerning grain yields under organic paddy field managements at Ban Saeng Thong, Bung Malaeng sub district, Sawang Wirawong district, Ubon Ratchathani province during the 2011 rainy season. Treatments comprised of three local glutinous rice variet-ies and an official-recommended one namely Tom Daeng,Tom Hom, Low Taek and RD 6. The field experiment was laid out in RCBD with 6 replications. The results showed that four rice varieties had significantly different (P<0.01)in grain yields. Low Taek gave the highest average grain yield (497 kg/rai) followed by KD 6 (436 kg/rai) and Tom Daeng (400 kg/rai), whereas Tom Hom gained the lowest one (381 kg/rai). The highest yield components in terms of tiller/hil, panicle/hill and filled grains/hill were also found in Low Taek. For insect pests, rice thrips appeared and attacked the rice seedlings after transplanting two weeks. Stem borers(Scirpophaga incertulus Walker ) and green leafhopper (Cyrthacantacris tatarica ) infested the rice fields during the vegetative-reproductive growth phases but the damage could be controlled by spraying bio liquid and water level adjustment. Such natural enemies as dragonfly (Neurothemis tulia) and spider (Lycosa pseudoannulata) were also found in organic rice fields.