How to prevent empty and blighted rice grains? Master these technical measures

Empty and blighted rice grains refer to unfertilized empty grains and half-empty grains that fail to develop after fertilization, and this has a great impact on rice yield. Therefore, in rice production, in addition to striving for more panicles and larger panicles, it is also necessary to reduce empty and blighted grains, improve the seed-setting rate, and increase the 1000-grain weight in order to obtain high yields. At present, rice is in the grain-filling and ripening stage. To prevent the occurrence of empty and blighted rice grains and achieve the goal of high yield, comprehensive preventive measures must be taken. The specific measures are as follows:

1. Select varieties with good seed setting. Rice varieties differ in physiological morphology, and the seed-setting rate varies greatly. Generally, varieties with strong stress resistance and wide adaptability have a high seed-setting rate. In production, varieties that are cold-tolerant or heat-tolerant, fertilizer-tolerant and lodging-resistant, have uniform heading, are not prone to premature senescence in the later stage, and have strong resistance to diseases and insect pests should be selected. When encountering adverse environments, this can reduce the impact and ensure a relatively high seed-setting rate.

2. Sow and transplant at the appropriate time. Avoid damage from high and low temperatures. Arrange the season according to local conditions. Early-maturing varieties should not be sown too early, so as to avoid encountering low temperatures at the panicle stage and increasing empty and blighted grains. Late rice should not be sown too late, so as to avoid encountering low temperatures in the later stage and affecting seed setting.

3. Fertilize and irrigate reasonably. To improve the seed-setting rate, reasonable close planting and scientific water use are necessary to prevent row closure too early, which affects ventilation and light penetration, and to prevent excessive vegetative growth and premature senescence in the later stage, which cause nutritional imbalance, thereby creating good conditions for the formation and development of rice panicles and grains, improving the seed-setting rate, and promoting full grains.

4. Take emergency measures in time to reduce losses. During the booting to heading and flowering stage of rice, if high or low temperatures occur, defensive measures should be taken in time to reduce the damage and improve the seed-setting rate. If the booting stage of early rice or the heading and flowering stage of late rice encounters a low temperature below 20°C, deep water should be irrigated in time to keep warm, which has a relatively good effect. If a warming agent is also applied while irrigating deep water, the effect is even better. If the heading and flowering stage of early rice encounters a high temperature above 35°C, deep water can be irrigated during the day and drained at night to lower the temperature, which can appropriately reduce the temperature and increase the relative humidity, helping to improve the seed-setting rate.

5. Foliar topdressing can spray phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. When high or low temperatures occur, foliar spraying of a 3% superphosphate solution or a 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution can enhance the resistance of rice plants to high and low temperatures, helping to improve the seed-setting rate and increase the 1000-grain weight.