Abstract:

Modeling leaf growth dynamics in rice is of significant importance for realizing virtual and digital plant growth. Based on time-course observations on leaf morphological properties (leaf length and leaf width) on main stems and tillers under different nitrogen rates and water regimes with four rice cultivars, the change patterns of leaf morphology with growth progress and environmental factors were characterized, and a dynamic model was developed to simulate time-course growth characters of different leaves on rice plant. The growth dynamics of leaf length on stem and tiller could be described with a logistic model, leaf width with conic equation, and leaf shape with exponential function and quadratic equation. The effects of nitrogen and water conditions on leaf growth were quantified by the effective values of leaf nitrogen concentration and water content. The model was validated with independent field experiment data of different nitrogen rates, and the mean RMSEs of dynamic leaf length were 3.60 cm and 3.96 cm, those of leaf width were 3.15 cm and 3.56 cm on main stem and tillers, respectively. The results indicated that the present model had a good performance in predicting morphological growth of leaf on stem and tiller in rice plant.

Key words:

Rice, Leaf length, Leaf width, Leaf shape, Dynamic, Simulation model