Evaluating the influence of root cone angle on deep rooting, nitrogen uptake and yield in aerobic rice, Trop Ag
October 21, 2025
The Crawford Fund’s Queensland Committee has again partnered with the TropAg International Agriculture Conference to assist 10 young researchers from developing countries attend and present their science at this international conference which will be held in Brisbane from 11-13 November 2025.
Successful conference scholarship candidates must be an Honours or Postgraduate student from a developing country who is currently studying at a Queensland tertiary institute, and they must be an author or co-author on a submitted TropAg 2025 Conference abstract.
In the lead-up to the conference we will be publishing short blog posts written by the young researchers about their work. Here is the another blog.
By Ezinne Echem Okorie, University of Queensland
Rice is one of the world’s most important staple crops, yet its production faces major challenges from increasing water scarcity. Water-saving approaches such as the aerobic rice system help reduce water use, but they also bring new problems, one of which is the inefficient use of nitrogen fertiliser. In well-drained soils, nitrogen is easily lost through leaching, leading to lower yields and greater environmental impacts.
My PhD research focuses on improving nitrogen use efficiency in aerobic rice by understanding how rice genotypes with different root architecture respond to water and nitrogen supply. I have evaluated over 60 rice genotypes that vary in their genetic composition of deep-rooting traits under contrasting water and nitrogen conditions.
The findings are revealing that genotypes with steeper, deeper roots tend to achieve higher nitrogen uptake, especially at high nitrogen supply, where more nitrogen move downward with water into deeper soil layers. This suggests that deep-root traits play a key role in improving nitrogen use efficiency in aerobic rice. My study also examines how well these genotypes can convert the nitrogen they acquire into grain yield.
Ultimately, this work will help identify key traits that breeders can target to develop high-yielding aerobic rice varieties. This will enable rice growers to continue producing rice sustainably amid water scarcity.
Attending TropAg 2025 as a Crawford Fund Scholar is an exciting opportunity to share these findings and connect with others working to build resilient and efficient food systems for the future.
