Germination Characteristics of Some Red Rice Accessions

Nine accessions of red rices collected from different regions were tested for germination characteristics in relation to seed maturity and several storage conditions after harvest. No red rice seeds germinated at five days after anthesis (DAA). Wanjuaengmi (long-grain red rice) seeds at 10DAA germinated up to 30% of total samples, producing only abnormal seedlings, whereas 10D-AA-seeds of normal cultivar showed only 3.3% germinability. Some red rice seeds absorbed more water than cultivated varieties, and showed less decrease in germination rate than cultivated varieties when seeds were exposed at -1, -5 or -1$0^{\circ}C$ for up to 60 hours after soaking. Red rice accessions maintained more than 95% germination when stored. indoor for 120 days. Two short-grain red rices showed about 50% germination when overwintered in the field, while other long-grain red rices and cultivated rices germinated less than 10%. Germination of seeds overwintered in clay loam soil was lower than that in loam soil, and seeds on surface germinated less than those in 1~7cm depth.