Contrasting Yield Responses of Early- and Late-Season Rice to Root Damage: From Agronomic Traits to Path-Based Mechanisms

Fang, Xilin; Li, Xing; Zhang, Yusheng; Mo, Xu; Wu, Jian; Guo, Ruige; Wang, Yue; Chen, Guanghui

doi:10.3390/agronomy16111078

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Contrasting Yield Responses of Early- and Late-Season Rice to Root Damage: From Agronomic Traits to Path-Based Mechanisms

by

Xilin Fang

^1,2,†,

Xing Li

^3,†

,

Yusheng Zhang

¹,

Xu Mo

²,

Jian Wu

¹,

Ruige Guo

^4,*,

Yue Wang

^2,* and

Guanghui Chen

^2,*

¹

Ganzhou Technology Innovation Center for Green Leafy Vegetables, Modern College of Agriculture and Forestry Engineering, Ganzhou Polytechnic, Ganzhou 341008, China

²

Department of Agronomy, College of Agronomy, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China

³

National Engineering and Technology Research Center for Red Soil Improvement, Jiangxi Institute of Red Soil and Germplasm Resources, Key Laboratory of Arable Land Improvement and Quality Improvement of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang 331717, China

⁴

Ecological and Agricultural Meteorological Center of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang 330096, China

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Agronomy 2026, 16(11), 1078; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16111078

Submission received: 15 April 2026 / Revised: 26 May 2026 / Accepted: 27 May 2026 / Published: 29 May 2026

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tillage Methods to Improve the Yield and Quality of Crops—2nd Edition)

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Abstract

Mechanical transplanting often causes root damage to rice seedlings, but its yield impacts in double-cropping systems remain unclear. A two-year field experiment was conducted in early- and late-season rice under three root damage treatments: no damage (CK), mild root damage (T1, seedling roots pruned to 2 cm), and severe root damage (T2, seedling roots pruned to 1 cm). Results showed that T2 reduced early-season rice yield by 8% but had no significant effect on late-season rice, while T1 did not affect yield in either season. In early-season rice, the yield loss was associated with reduced pre-heading biomass (BM_Pre) and total biomass (both 13% lower than CK), primarily due to decreases of 5–32% in SPAD, leaf area index, specific leaf weight, pre-heading crop growth rate, and leaf area duration, with no post-heading compensation. In contrast, late-season rice sustained yield despite a 9% reduction in BM_Pre (attributed to similar leaf trait reductions of 4–26%) by enhancing post-heading biomass (16% increase), driven by a 17% increase in post-heading crop growth rate and an 11% decrease in the rate of leaf area decline. Partial least squares path modeling confirmed that biomass dynamics, rather than yield components, constituted the primary pathway linking root damage to yield. These results demonstrate that the impact of root damage is season-dependent, highlighting the need for root protection in early-season rice and the exploitation of compensatory capacity in late-season rice to optimize mechanical transplanting practices.

Keywords: mechanical transplanting; early- and late-season rice; root damage; yield

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MDPI and ACS Style

Fang, X.; Li, X.; Zhang, Y.; Mo, X.; Wu, J.; Guo, R.; Wang, Y.; Chen, G. Contrasting Yield Responses of Early- and Late-Season Rice to Root Damage: From Agronomic Traits to Path-Based Mechanisms. Agronomy 2026, 16, 1078. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16111078

AMA Style

Fang X, Li X, Zhang Y, Mo X, Wu J, Guo R, Wang Y, Chen G. Contrasting Yield Responses of Early- and Late-Season Rice to Root Damage: From Agronomic Traits to Path-Based Mechanisms. Agronomy. 2026; 16(11):1078. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16111078

Chicago/Turabian Style

Fang, Xilin, Xing Li, Yusheng Zhang, Xu Mo, Jian Wu, Ruige Guo, Yue Wang, and Guanghui Chen. 2026. "Contrasting Yield Responses of Early- and Late-Season Rice to Root Damage: From Agronomic Traits to Path-Based Mechanisms" Agronomy 16, no. 11: 1078. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16111078

APA Style

Fang, X., Li, X., Zhang, Y., Mo, X., Wu, J., Guo, R., Wang, Y., & Chen, G. (2026). Contrasting Yield Responses of Early- and Late-Season Rice to Root Damage: From Agronomic Traits to Path-Based Mechanisms. Agronomy, 16(11), 1078. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16111078

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Contrasting Yield Responses of Early- and Late-Season Rice to Root Damage: From Agronomic Traits to Path-Based Mechanisms

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