**5. Conclusions**

Based on the above analysis, the effects of different water stress on the rice growth index and yield were as follows:


Therefore, increasing water input at the tillering and jointing stages is beneficial to the tillering of rice, can effectively promote the stem and leaf growth and the panicle differentiation, and improve the plant height and leaf area of the rice. It is unsuitable for saving water excessively at the heading and flowering stages. Increasing the water supply can improve the 1000-grain weight, effective panicle, and seed setting rate of rice, and improve the rice yield and water use efficiency.

**Author Contributions:** Y.Z., conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, data curation, writing— original draft preparation, review and editing; F.L. and L.Z., review and editing; X.Z., supervision, conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, writing—review and editing; H.Y., data curation, Investigation. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Provincial, Grant number 20202BABL204068.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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