Biology of Rice

This book presents a wealth of both general and specific information about rice. The first section outlines the distribution and mutual relationships of various types of rice with special attention to the adaptive strategy of wild and cultivated rice, and to the relationships between different ecotypes and their adaptation to low temperature, different photoperiods or different humidities. The section on rice morpho-physiology compares the characteristics of rice and dry land crops and different ecotypes with regard to seed dormancy and germination; describes the important steps in the photosynthetic structure process and its adjustment to the course of evolution of cultivated rice; studies the root and nutrient uptake and the responses to hormones in terrestrial and aquatic plants; considers the reproductive nature in relation to tolerance to environmental stress; and discusses the morphological characteristics of rice panicle in relation to grain filling, sink-source balance and variation in yield components of panicle structure.