Fast-growing plants tend to occupy available niches utilizing these spaces ahead of their neighbors. In general, these plants have priority over others in the use of environmental resources. The objective of this research was to evaluate variations in growth characteristics of flooded rice cultivars. A field experiment was carried out during the 2000/01 summer season, in Cachoeirinha, RS, Brazil. The behavior of eight rice cultivars, grown in the absence or presence of the EEA 406 rice genotype was investigated, simulating a red rice infestation, established at an average density of 30 plants m-2. From 15 to 60 days after seeding (DAS), variations in leaf area, plant height, and dry weight of rice plants were evaluated. The data were used to calculate leaf area rate (LAR), relative growth rate (RGR), and net assimilation rate (NAR) of the cultivars. The cultivars Ligeirinho and XL 6 presented the fastest increments in leaf area, plant height, and dry weight, reaching the highest soil cover values, together with the cultivar IR 841. On the other hand, cultivars Bluebelle and Formosa showed slow absolute growth during the evaluated period, even though presenting the highest values for RGR and NAR, overall.
competition; interference; weed culture control; growth rate
