Growth and Yield Responses of Two Rice Cultivars to Ozone Treatment under Different Nutrient Supply

Two rice cultivars of the japonica type, ozone-resistant Ilpumbyeo (IL) and ozone-susceptible Keu-mobyeo#l (KM) were exposed to ozone ($O_3$) at 0.15 ppm for 30 days. The available nutrient regimes were varied by doubling the supply of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) within a basic fertilizer status (N, P, K; 15, 12, 12 kg l0$a^{-1}$). There was little difference on plant height between ozone-treated and nontreated plants. The most significant ozone stress on tiller number was shown on the 30th day of ozone exposure. Slight recovery from ozone stress was noted on the 60th day. On the 30th day, tiller number was greatly decreased by 40.8% in IL and 64.6% in KM, whereas at a high nitrogen supply regime (2N), it was decreased by 21.4% in IL and 42.7% in KM as compared to the control not treated with ozone at basic fertilizer status. The inhibition of tiller production caused by ozone exposure was alleviated on the 60th day. In both cultivars, number of spikelets per plant and weight of 100 grains were affected little by the ozone treatment irrespective of nutrient regime. However, the number of panicles per plant and yield were reduced significantly. In both cultivars, yield of ozone-treated plants with 2N status was 12.4-16.1 % higher than that of the ozone-treated plants with basic nutrient status. A significant yield decrease of 47.8% and 33.4% was observed for IL and KM, respectively, in ozone-treated plants with higher potassium (2K) status.