Growth of Ichiban Boshi Rice Variety for Different Number of Seedlings Per Hill

One of the major constraints in the rice production for many African countries is the use of incorrect number of seedlings per hill. For example, in Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi; different plant numbers per hill are planted, calling the need to establish the common optimum number that will be recommended to farmers. In this study, three different numbers of seedlings per hill were planted; 2 seedlings per hill, 4 seedlings per hill and 8 seedlings per hill to assess their growth performance for plant height, number of tillers per hill and nitrogen content using leaf colour chart. Generally, the results did not show great variations for plant height, number of tiller per hill and leaf colour chart values in all treatments. However, the value of plant height and number of tiller per hill during early growth phases and that of leaf colour chart at late growth phase were significant higher (p˂0.05) for 8 seedlings per hill compared to 2 seedlings per hill and 4 seedlings per hill. Therefore, planting 8 seedlings per hill led to irregular growth pattern which might have undesirable effect in rice yield. On the other hand, 2 seedlings per hill proved optimal for all the growth parameters observed.