Pollination, fertility, time of day of flowering, and panicle development under the Tsukuba FACE (free-air CO2 enrichment) experiment

An IRRI Seminar

By Dr. Kazuhiro Kobayashi
Associate Professor
Shimane University
Japan

4 September 2014, Thursday
1:15-2:15 p.m.
Havener Auditorium
IRRI HQ, Philippines


Abstract:

The Tsukuba FACE (free-air CO2 enrichment) project has been running since 2010 in Japan. In this project, Dr. Kobayashi works on three subjects: (1) pollination and fertility, (2) time of day of flowering, and (3) panicle development focusing on the interaction between nitrogen and CO2. Koshihikari, one of the popular cultivars in Japan, is being used. Pollination, fertility, and time of day of flowering are intensively researched using growth chambers. However, chamber effects can mislead the results. Field experiments under FACE will give us confident results. So far, the results obtained showed that, (1) although increased atmospheric CO2 concentration raised panicle temperature around the anthesis time, poor pollination and sterility were not detected under FACE. (2) Time of day of flowering was also not affected by FACE condition; however, (3) spikelet density (spikelet number per unit area) increased under FACE because of the increase in absorbed nitrogen.