GROWTH AND YIELD RESPONSES OF RICE TO CARBON-DIOXIDE CONCENTRATION

Rice plants (Oryza sativa L., cv. IR30) were grown in paddy culture in outdoor, naturally sunlit, controlled-environment, plant growth chambers at Gainesville, Florida, USA, in 1987. The rice plants were exposed throughout the season to subambient (160 and 250), ambient (330) or superambient (500, 660, 900 mu-mol CO2/mol air) CO2 concentrations. Total shoot biomass, root biomass, tillering, and final grain yield increased with increasing CO2 concentration, the greatest increase occurring between the 160 and 500 mu-mol CO2/mol air treatments. Early in the growing season, root:shoot biomass ratio increased with increasing CO2 concentration; although the ratio decreased during the growing season, net assimilation rate increased with increasing CO2 concentration and decreased during the growing season. Differences in biomass and lamina area among CO2 treatments were largely due to corresponding differences in tillering response. The number of panicles/plant was almost entirely responsible for differences in final grain yield among CO2 treatments. Doubling the CO2 concentration from 330 to 660 mu-mol CO2/mol air resulted in a 32% increase in grain yield. These results suggest that important changes in the growth and yield of rice may be expected in the future as the CO2 concentration of the earth's atmosphere continues to rise.