The life of rice, from seed germination to new seed maturity, goes through seedling stage, tillering stage, jointing stage, booting stage, heading stage, flowering stage, filling stage, wax maturity stage and complete maturity stage in turn. The above life is usually marked by the differentiation of young panicles, and the differentiation from seed germination to rooting, leaf emergence and tillering to rice panicle flowering is called vegetative growth period; From ear differentiation, spikelet formation, heading and flowering to fruiting, it is called reproductive growth period.

The different growth stages of rice are interrelated. Vegetative growth is the basis of reproductive growth, and reproductive growth is the development of vegetative growth. Poor vegetative growth and low photosynthetic production efficiency affect the panicle number and grain number of rice, while excessive vegetative growth leads to unbalanced distribution of organic matter in rice plants, which is not conducive to long panicle and grain increase. The vegetative growth period is characterized by tillering growth, and the reproductive growth period is characterized by panicle formation. These two periods have different requirements for external environmental conditions (see Chapter 3, Physiological Ecology of Rice in China). Understanding the growth characteristics of rice and its relationship with environmental conditions, through the promotion and control of cultivation management measures in production, can coordinate the relationship between vegetative growth and reproductive growth, and achieve the goal of high yield, stable yield and high quality.