Effect of seedling age on growth and yield of two rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties transplanted in saline coastal area of Baros, Yogyakarta

Rice demand is increasing but not supported by the increase in agricultural land area. The utilization of marginal lands such as coastal area is considered as one of the solution s of this issue . The method used in this research was factorial Randomized Completely Block Design (R CBD ) with 3 replications, conducted at saline coastal area of Baros, Yogyakarta started from January to June 2017. The first factor was rice varieties i.e. Dendang and IR-64. Whereas the second factor was seedling age, consisted of 2-week s - old and 4-weeks -old seedling . The results showed that: (1) the growth response and the yield of two rice varietas (Dendang and IR-64) showed significant difference and Dendang had a better performance than IR-64. The higher yield of Dendang compared to IR-64 was supported by higher plant growth (short dry weight), growth analysis (LAI, CGR), and yield components (1000-grain weight, number of seeds per panicle, seed weight per hill, and percentage of filled grain); (2) the effect of seedling age was not significantly different between 2-weeks-old and 4-weeks-old seedlings on nearly all growth parameters. However, 2-weeks-old Dendang rice seedlings had higher shoot dry weight, while IR-64 varieties had higher leaf greeness in 4 weeks old seedlings.