Plant density and crop productivity

THE CONCEPT OF COMPETITION Two plants, no matter how close, do not compete with each other so long as the growth resources are in excess of the needs of both. When the immediate supply of a single necessary factor falls below the combined demands of the plants competition begins. According to Donald (1963) competition occurs when each of two or more organisms seeks the measure it wants of any particular factor or thing and when the immediate supply of the factor or thing is below the combined demand of the organisms. Harper (1983) defined competition as the struggle between individuals within a population for available resources, when the level of resources is below the combined need of the members of the population.

1 THE NATURE OF COMPETITION If all the plants in the community are nearly equal in competitive ability, they will tend to share equally in the supply until it is exhausted and then simultaneously, to suffer the effect of depletion of the pool e.g Water. In the case of nutrients, the capacity to draw from the pool is in varying degree, an expression of the differing ability of plants to make use of the nutrients in different physical and chemical forms. The concept of a pool or store of material is not valid in the case of light. There is no store of light energy in the immediate environment of the plant. Instead, light is available as a passing stream which must be intercepted by the leaves if it is not to be permanently lost to the plant.

 1.2 MECHANISM OF PLANT POPULATION STRESS

Yield per plant is linearly correlated with available space. Increasing the available space 10 times (100 to 1000 cm2) increased per plant yield 10 times (3.6 to 35.6). Increasing the available space per plant two times (100 to 200 or 500 to 1000 cm2) increased yield 2 times (3.6 to 7.4 or 17.9 to 35.6).

TABLE 5.1 PLANT POPULATION AND GRAIN YIELD OF RICE (IRRI 1964)

 The fact that grain yield per plant is proportional to available space is attributed by some authors to mutual shading (Papadakis 1970). Influence of light can be separated from that of soil by growing plants in pots of different depths and varying the distance between them. The influence of depth is notorious (Papadakis 1954).

The fact that grain yield is proportional to available space explains why weeds reduce crop yields.

 Nutrients increase the yield when the soil is poor in fertility. As the dose increases, the incremental yield gradually decreases and may be negative at higher doses. Plant roots fill the surrounding soil with substances, injurious to root growth. The theory of injurious substances of the rhizosphere has been confirmed by Papadakis (1968). The theory explains why plants grown in solution have a stunted growth and they grow better when the solution is changed frequently or absorbing substances such as activated carbon, resins, etc are added.

2. PLANT POPULATION AND YIELD RELATIONSHIPS Efficient interception of radiant energy incident to the crop surface requires adequate leaf area, uniformly distributed, to give complete ground cover. This can be achieved by manipulating stand density and its distribution over the land surface.
Fig 1 Relationship between plant population and yield on four occasions (Hypothetical).

 The agronomist is concerned with efficient use of resources by the crop. It is desirable for him to define the relationships between plant population and crop yield quantitatively for advising the farmer on optimum plant population for realising maximum yield. Two aspects of competition are important in determining the effects on yield: the amount (intensity) and the time of onset. It is clear, that competition occurs early at high plant populations. At very low densities, with most crop plants, competition may not occur at all and resources are not efficiently used. Selection of plant population must avoid insufficient use of resources at low levels and excessive competition at high levels (Harper 1983).

Density-yield relationships
Holliday (1960) suggested two density-yield relationships: parabolic and asymptotic. PARABOLIC RELATIONSHIP The parabolic response curve is typically a flat-topped one with decrease in grain yield on both sides of an optimum (Fig 2). The curve could be fitted by a quadratic equation: y=a+bx+cx2 where, y = Yield per unit area, x = Plant population, and a, b and c = regression constants

ASYMPTOTIC RELATIONSHIP When yield is the product of vegetative crop growth, the density-yield relationship is asymptotic. In an asymptotic relationship, with increase in density, yield rises to a maximum and then relatively constant at high densities. The curve for biological yield can be defined by the expression for a rectangular hyperbole. 1 y = Ax x --------------1 + Abx Where, Y = dry matter yield per unit area, A = the apparent maximum yield per plant, x = number of plants per unit area, and b = the linear regression coefficient of the reciprocal of yield per plant and plant population.

3 CROP RESPONSES TO POPULATION CHANGES As plant density increases, most components of yield of the individual plant, in general, are reduced. The factors for which competition may occur among plants are nutrients, light, oxygen and carbon dioxide. Other factors of growth such as temperature and humidity are not commodities in finite supply and hence are not the subject of competition.

3 COMPETITION FOR GROWTH RESOURCES 3.1 COMPETITION FOR NUTRIENTS There is sufficient evidence to derive the general principle that as fertility status is improved, so the density required to give maximum yield by annual crops increase. Conversely, as plant density increases up to a certain limit, the crop will continue to respond to higher levels of added nutrients.

3.2 COMPETITION FOR LIGHT Competition for light may occur whenever one plant casts a shadow on another or within a plant when one leaf shades another leaf. ). Maximum light interception by the canopy can be achieved by improving the foliage pattern and increasing plant density. Improving foliage pattern: An efficient plant type is the one with most leaves, but that in which the inter-plant and intraplant competition for light is reduced to a minimum, so that the canopy as a whole intercepts maximum light. Increasing plant density: Light intensity required for maximum photosynthetic rate by individual leaf is about 15002000 foot-candles, whilest light intensities in the field may reach 10000 foot-candles (Donald 1963). Hence, there is scope for increasing the plant population to increase the efficiency of plant canopy as a whole to utilise the available sunlight.

3.4 EFFECT OF PLANT POPULATION ON CROP Plant densities influence crop growth considerably. Widely spaced plants, usually, have circular root distribution as against interpenetrated root growth at high densities, With increasing density and competition for light, plant height may be markedly increased, There will be marked increase in lodging at high plant densities, High plant densities may decrease protein and oil content, At very high plant densities, seedling mortality is common. However, this self thinning will not reduce plant density to that giving highest grain yield, and In general, high densities are conducive for build up of pests and diseases.

4. CROP GEOMETRY
The way in which the crop plants are arranged (spatial arrangement or plant rectangularity) referred to as crop geometry. Keeping the density constant, crop geometry can be manipulating inter and intra-row spacings. 1 SQUARE ARRANGEMENT 2 RECTANGULAR ARRANGEMENT in the field is usually total plant varied by