The Korean Journal of Crop Science 한국작물학회지 ISSN:0252-9777(Print) 2287-8432(Online)

We investigated critical temperature for early marginal transplanting (CT-EMT) of the contemporary japonica rice varieties in Korea through the field, pot seedling tray, and the phytotron experiments during 2020 to 2023. The lowest mean temperature for 10 days from transplanting (MT-10DFT) that resulted in earlier heading date was 12.4℃ and the highest MT-10DFT that did not show the earlier heading date was 12.0℃ in the field study when the MT-10DFT varied by changing transplanting date. The lowest MT-10DFT that induced the increased biomass but not the earlier heading date was 11.6℃ and the highest MT-10DFT that showed neither the increased biomass nor the earlier heading date was 11.4℃. Compared to the 10-day later transplanting, the dates of the first root development, initiation of the chlorophyll recovery, and the first tiller development were earlier when the MT-10DFT was 9.1℃ or higher, 10.5℃ or higher, and 11.6℃ or higher, respectively, in the pot seedling tray and field experiments. The earliness of the first tiller development was a practical index for the estimation of CT-EMT during the early growth stage of rice. The response of transplanted rice to temperature treatments with the diurnal change of 10℃ in the phytotron study was similar to that shown in the field study. The data shown for constant temperature without a diurnal change revealed that the extent of positive effects of high temperature at day-time was greater than the extent of negative effects of low temperature at night-time on the early growth of transplanted rice. It was concluded that the critical MT-10DFT for early marginal transplanting of japonica rice in the temperate environments was between 11.4 to 11.6℃ based on the plant growth and between 12.0 to 12.4℃ based on the plant development.