Abstract

This paper presents a unified tillering model N=Cin-2i-1 for rice and evaluates its application in tiller production by rice cultivars. This is modelled on the basis of separate formulae N1=n-3, N2=C2n-7, N3=C3n-7 …for rice, which correlates tiller formation and leaf occurrence on the main stem under optimum growing conditions. N is the number of tillers, while n is the number of leaves on main stem. T1, T2 and T3 …were designed for primary tillers, while T11, T21 and T31… for secondary tillers, and so on. Primary tillers occur on main stem, while secondary tillers occur on primary ones, and so on. The numbers of primary, secondary and tertiary tillers are named as N1, N2 and N3, respectively. However, rice usually does not tiller in the rigid pattern in reality. Tillering depends on rice's genetic trait and environmental stress. Therefore, the ratio of tillers observed to simulated ones could be considered as an index to judge rice's tillering ability and growing condition. This unified tillering model offers a wide scope of application with its versatility. The observations from field trials showed the unified model's good performance to discover rice's tillering ability and resistance to environmental stress.