Abstract: It was especially important to select rice varieties with strong deep-sowing germination ability in order to solve the problem of incompetence emergence of direct seeding rice. The deep-sowing germination ability of 10 rice varieties in sand culture were analyzed by determining germination indexes and physiological and biochemical indexes of leaf. The results showed that the germination rate, germination potential, root length, seedling height, stem diameter, fresh weight and dry weight of above ground and underground, soluble protein, soluble sugar, POD activity, MDA content, chlorophyll content and carotene content were different among the 10 rice varieties. Based on the comprehensive indicators of germination and seedling growth, ‘Longyou 619’ was identified with strong deep-sowing germination ability by cluster analysis. The four varieties of ‘Dong-45’ ‘Jinchuan 1’ ‘Jindao 175’ and ‘Jinyuan 45’ were of high deep-sowing germination ability; ‘U99’ cultivar was medium in deep-sowing germination ability; the four varieties of ‘Jinnuo 3’ ‘Jindao 777’ ‘Jinyuan 89’ and ‘Jinyuan E28’ were weak in deep-sowing germination ability.

Key words: direct seeding rice, deep-sowing germination ability, germination, physiological and biochemical characteristics