Plants that present fast establishment possess priority in utilizing environmental resources; therefore, they present advantage in competitive ability with their neighbours. The objective of this research was to detect variations in speed of establishment in flooded rice cultivars. This way, there were conducted three experiments, two of them in the greenhouse and the other in the field. In both conditions, it was investigated the behavior of nine cultivars. In order to characterize speed of establishment, there were evaluated: emergency velocity, plant height, leaf area, and aerial weight of the seedlings 15 days after sowing. The genotypes Ligeirinho and XL 6 showed characteristics that attribute them fast establishment; whereas, Bluebelle and Formosa presented characteristics indicative of slow seedling establishment.
interference; emergency velocity; early growth; niche occupation
