EFFECT OF WATER CONDITIONS ON THE LEI POSITION IN AFRICAN FLOATING RICE (ORYZA-GLABERRIMA STEUD)

Using each of the 40 varieties of African and Asian floating rice, int ernode elongation was investigated under submerged and non-submerged c onditions. Under submerged conditions, the position of the lowest elon gated internode (LEI) varied from the eighth to the thirteenth interno de in both rices. Under non-submerged conditions, variation of the LEI position was from the ninth to the fourteenth internode in African fl oating rice and from the eighth to the thirteenth internode in Asian f loating rice. The difference in the LEI position between submerged and non-submerged conditions was less than one internode in the Asian flo ating rice varieties, while it was 1.1-3.0 internodes in most varietie s of the African floating rice. On the ether hand, the average LEI len gth under submerged conditions was nearly the same between both rices, and under non-submerged conditions, the length of the African floatin g rice was one-third that of the Asian floating rice. Further, of the African floating rice with a short LEI, the lengths of some upper inte rnodes of the LEI were also short. These results show that, under non- submerged conditions, the elongation ability of African floating rice is inferior to that of Asian floating rice.