The Importance of Optimum Tillering in Rice-An overview

Rice is the most widely consumed staple food for more than half the world's human population. It is a monocot plant, normally grown as an annual crop. In tropical regions, it can survive as a perennial and in many traditional rice habitats of Asia and Africa this property is exploited by the native farmers. The plant can perennate through ratoon production. Some cultivars produce ratoon crop for several years. Rice can be grown in different environmental conditions, but wetland cultivation is the most widely used method for rice production. Rice is actually the edible fruit, called as a grain or caryopsis. Rice germinates as a single culmed seedling, but soon after the seedling stage it produces primary, secondary and tertiary tillers which come forth at different stages of growth. Tillering potential of rice, an important aspect in rice cultivation, is genetically controlled. Tillers from the rice plant emerge in a specific chronological sequence and it mainly depends on its duration and morphology. Optimum tillering is very much important to develop primary and secondary tillers, all bearing healthy panicles. This concept is recent and it displaces the early concept of high tillering rice varieties.