The Effects of Cropping Methods on Growth, Crop Index and Yield Response to Water of Rice （Oryza sativa L.） in Rainfed Agriculture

In this study, four combinations of crops： rice （C）, rice-maize （MCSI）, rice-cassava （MCS2） and rice-maize-cassava （MCS3） with 3 m × 3 m each plots at two field areas--Saptosari and Tanjungsari were observed. Both field areas are located in Gunungkidul district, South-Central of Java Island, with that 93% at those areas are 185 m to 500 m above sea level and high proportion of multiple cropping systems （MCS）. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different cropping method on growth, crop index and yield response to water of rice in rainfed agriculture. Mathematical models were developed to describe rice growth. The rice height was followed monomolecular function and the number of tillers followed exponential polynomial function. Crop index was calculated from climate data during plant growth phase. And yield response to water was calculated from actual evapotranspiration （ETa） and the maximum evapotranspiration （ETm）. The results showed that the height of rice was not significantly different