Effect of transplanting depth on grain yield of high quality indica rice pot seedlings in Southern China

Early greening and early tillering are important basis for high yield of indica rice in South China．Depth of rice mechanical planting significantly affects greening and tillering and has an important effect on early growth and rapid development of rice during transplanting．Using South China high-quality indica rice "Nanjingxiangzhan" as the material, three potting depths（i．e., T₁, T₂ and T₃）of 1, 3 and 4 cm were set, and effects on rice plant height, tiller number, leaf area index, biomass and yield, etc, were investigated．Results showed that, effective number of spikes decreased with increasing depth．Results showed that there were significant differences in effective number of panicles and rice yield among different planting depth treatments．As planting depth increased, average number of tillers decreased．Planting depth had an impact on length of aboveground and underground parts of rice, but did not have a significant effect on total plant height of rice．Biomass of T₁ treatment in each period was higher than that of other treatments．Yield of rice was significantly positively correlated with number of effective panicles and total number of spikelets．In conclusion, deep transplanting of rice reduces tillering, decreases leaf area index and biomass, and reduces total glume number and reservoir capacity, thereby reducing rice grain yield．