Effects of Hydroagricultural Development on Biometric Parameters of Rice Varieties Grown in the Yarafè Inland Valley, Faranah Urban Commune, Guinea

Background: In the context of climate variability and the need to increase rice production sustainably, inland valley development is an important means of improving production conditions. Objective: This study provides a descriptive assessment of the effect of hydroagricultural development on the biometric parameters of two rice varieties, Super and CK90, grown in the Yarafè inland valley in Faranah. Methods: Developed and undeveloped plots were compared for plant height, total tiller number, productive tiller number, panicle length, thousand-grain weight and paddy yield. The reported results of the analysis of variance were interpreted at the 5% significance level. Relative gains and tiller fertility rates were calculated from the means. Results: Development was associated with increased plant height: 118 versus 102 cm for Super and 95 versus 85 cm for CK90 (p = 0.013). Tiller number also increased from 9 to 12 for Super and from 8 to 10 for CK90 (p < 0.001). Differences in productive tillers (p = 0.110), thousand-grain weight (p = 0.902) and yield (p = 0.456) were not statistically significant. Nevertheless, the aggregated mean yield was 326.5 kg ha⁻¹ in the developed area versus 278.5 kg ha⁻¹ in the undeveloped area, a descriptive gain of 17.2%, accompanied by lower variability (CV: 12% versus 21%). These results therefore show a clearer association with vegetative growth than with reproductive performance. Conclusion: Optimising fertilisation, planting density and water management during reproductive stages is recommended. In the absence of detailed sample sizes, dispersion measures for each area–variety combination and a complete randomisation protocol, the observed association should be interpreted as an agronomic association supported by the reported analysis rather than a definitively established causal relationship.