Physiology of Rice Yield and Quality

Dear Colleagues,

Current estimates show that nearly 768 million people (or 9.9% of the world population) are under threat of malnutrition, If recent trends continue the number of people affected by hunger could surpass 660 million by 2030 (FAO et al. 2021). Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the most important staple foods worldwide. However, rice yield improvement has stagnated worldwide and is insufficient to meet the need of an ever-growing population. This situation will be aggravated by the daunting challenges of the degradation of paddy fields, shortage of irrigation water, and extreme weather events like prolonged droughts, heat waves, and floods that are predicted to become more prevalent due to climate change. It is urgent for breeders and agronomists to map out deliberate strategies to tackle these challenges and thereby support the pressing demand of food security.

Rice is also a model plant for genomic studies, the genes discovered through which provide fundamental insights into the complex and dynamic processes governing plant life. Currently, there exists a knowledge gap between the fundamental plant sciences and the applied technology of crop breeding and management, which is partially reflected in the limited progress made in the processes of breeding for high-yielding and quality cultivars, in sharp contrast to the quantum leaps made in rice functional genomics. In order to breed super rice cultivars with high productivity and strong resilience towards climate change, crop physiology, the discipline linking the knowledge between genomics and phenomics, is indispensable.

The goal of this Special Issue is to bridge the knowledge gap between the fundamental plant science of gene study and the practical technology of rice breeding and management. We welcome the submission of various types of manuscripts, including, but not limited to, research on the following sub-themes:

1. Studies conducted at tissue and organ levels and beyond to dissect the biochemical and physiological mechanism underlying rice quality formation and its response to environmental cues like high temperature, cold stress, or drought.
2. Studies performed at plant and population levels and beyond to explore the physiological aspects of yield formation and its response to environmental cues like high temperature, cold stress, or drought.
3. Studies aimed at explaining the mechanisms of how an agronomical or chemical intervention affects rice yield and quality.

Prof. Dr. Zhenghui Liu
Guest Editor

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• rice
• grain yield
• grain quality
• physiology
• agronomical practices
• environmental conditions