Morpho-physiological characterization of multi-canopy rice cultivation systems in various genotype combinations

Abstract The multi-canopy rice cultivation system modifies the cultivar mixture using two genotypes with different stem lengths to create different heights of the plant canopy that may optimize vertical growth and harvesting space. This study aims to investigate the effect of a multi-canopy rice cultivation system on the morpho-physiological characteristics of several genotype combinations. The research was conducted in the plastic house of the IPB University experimental station, Dramaga, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. Two genotypes of the short plants and two tall plants as IPB University breeding lines were evaluated using a randomized complete block design. The combination of the short and the tall genotypes was transplanted on the same hill to create the multi-canopy system. The results of the multi-canopy rice cultivation system produced a number of tillers, panicle number, and percentage of productive tillers showed no difference with mono-genotype hills. Meanwhile, the genotype’s performance in the multi-canopy system for stem length, plant height, panicle length, panicle density, photosynthesis rate, and SPAD value is as good as the mono-genotype system. These results indicated no decrease in morpho-physiological characters’ performance in each genotype grown as a combination in multi-canopy. Each genotype can utilize resource inputs at different canopy positions to minimize competition.