Mechanized wide narrow row densification configuration enhances japonica rice yield and head rice quality in Northern China

Objective: Planting configuration is an important factor in regulating rice yield and quality. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of mechanized transplanting configuration on yield formation and grain quality in northern China. Methods: A two-year field experiment (2022-2023) was conducted using the japonica cultivar Liaojing 419, comparing four planting modes: local farmer's method (LFM, equal row spacing), conventional densification (CDM), narrow-row densification (NDM), and wide-narrow row densification (WNDM). Measurements included yield and its components, biomass accumulation, soluble sugar content in grains, processing quality (head rice yield), cooking and eating quality, and starch granule morphology of milled rice powder. Results: ) and thousand grain weight, which determines rice yield. LFM has the best processing quality (67.66 and 68.66 in head rice rate, respectively), appearance quality, taste quality and produced milled rice powder with the smoothest particle surfaces, followed by WNDM. WNDM led to the highest soluble sugar content in grains at 15, 25and 35 days after anthesis and highest head rice yield (7,895.51 and 8,066.34 kg/ha). The soluble sugar content in grains at 25and 35 days were extremely significantly (p