Prolonging seedling age does not reduce grain yields in machine‐transplanted early‐season rice under precision sowing

Abstract High seed sowing rates have shortened seedling age in conventional machine‐transplanted rice, which has become a challenge for intensive rice production in China. This study aimed to test our hypothesis that prolonging seedling age may not lead to reduced yield in machine‐transplanted early‐season rice under precision sowing. Field experiments were conducted with two cultivars in 2 years to determine the effect of prolonging seedling age on seedling traits, grain yield, and yield attributes in machine‐transplanted early‐season rice with printed sowing (a new precision sowing method). All tested seedling traits, including height, basal width, leaf and root number, and shoot and root biomass, were significantly increased when seedling age was prolonged from 20 days (a commonly recommended seedling age for conventional machine transplanting) to 30 days. The prolonged seedling age did not significantly affect grain yield, yield components, or biomass production and translocation. These results support our hypothesis and suggest that adopting precision sowing is a feasible way to prolong seedling age of machine‐transplanted early‐season rice.