Quantifying response of seedling emergence to temperature in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) under field conditions

Determination of response function of seed germination and seedling emergence to temperature and obtaining cardinal temperatures (base, optimal and maximum) and biological day requirement (minimum day number for seed germination and seedling emergence under optimal temperature and moisture conditions) for emergence is important for crop simulation modeling. This study was carried out to survey seedling emergence response to temperature in five rapeseed cultivars that were sown on 12 sowing dates under Gorgan environmental conditions (2013-2014). Three regression models including beta, segmented and dent-like were used to describe the response of seedling emergence rate to temperature. Root mean square of error, coefficient of determination, correlation coefficient and regression of predicted versus observed values were used to develop the appropriate model. Segmented model was superior compared to beta and dent-like models to achieve the objective of this study. Estimated cardinal temperatures using appropriate model were 3.2, 26.8 and 40˚C for base, optimum and maximum temperatures, respectively. Estimation of biological day requirement in sowing depth of 2 cm showed 4.5 days. The result showed that there is no significant difference for cardinal temperatures and biological day requirement among cultivars. It was concluded that segmented model can be used to quantify the response of rapeseed sedling emergence to temperature and to obtain cardinal temperatures of emergence and thermal time or time to emergence. These parameters are required to develop prediction models for rapeseed seedling emergence under diverse temperature conditions.