The work had the objective of evaluating the effects of seed vigor over several agronomic characteristics of hybrid rice plants. The experiment was conducted in the didactic experimental area of the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPEL). It was used two seed lots, which belong to the Ricetec®, characterized by presenting low and high vigor. The sowing was conducted directly on the field, in hollows distant 50 cm from each other, in order to isolate the plants. It was sowed 10 seed per hollow to allow posterior looping, leaving one plant per hollow at the end. The experiment was developed by a randomized completely block design, with 20 repetitions. Two treatments were tested; plants which were originated from low and high vigor seeds, formatting parcels constituted by only one plant. The soil fertility correction was accomplished by analyzing the soil, and the weed control was accomplished manually. The following parameters were evaluated: plant height at 60 and 115 days after plants emergence number of panicles per plant, leaf area, dry matter of the aerial part, number of grains per panicle, number of grains per plant, weight of 1000 seeds and plant yield. It was concluded that the seed physiological quality used for the plants establishment affected the performance of the adult plants. Seeds of high vigor originated plants with higher physiological potential which reflected on a higher growing and yield per plant.
Oryza sativa; physiological potential; performance
