BBCH-scale (rice) facts for kids
The BBCH-scale for rice is like a special code or a calendar that helps people understand how rice plants grow. It describes all the different steps a rice plant goes through, from a tiny seed to a plant ready for harvest. This scale is super useful for farmers and scientists to know exactly what stage the rice is at, so they can take the best care of it.
How Rice Plants Grow: The BBCH Stages
The BBCH-scale breaks down the rice plant's life into main stages, from 0 to 9. Each main stage has smaller steps within it.
| Growth Stage | Code | What's Happening |
|---|---|---|
| 0: Getting Started (Germination) | 00 | The rice seed is dry. |
| 01 | The seed starts to soak up water. | |
| 03 | The seed has soaked up enough water and looks swollen. | |
| 05 | The first tiny root (called a radicle) pops out of the seed. | |
| 06 | The first root grows longer, and tiny root hairs or side roots start to show. | |
| 07 | A protective cover (called a coleoptile) comes out of the seed. (For rice grown in water, this happens before the root pops out.) | |
| 09 | A small, rolled-up leaf starts to appear at the tip of the coleoptile. | |
| 1: Leaf Growth | 10 | The first small leaf unrolls, and the tip of the first true leaf can be seen. |
| 11 | The first true leaf is fully open. | |
| 12 | Two leaves are fully open. | |
| 13 | Three leaves are fully open. | |
| 1 . | This continues... | |
| 19 | Nine or more leaves are fully open. | |
| 2: Growing New Shoots (Tillering) | 21 | The plant starts to grow new stems or shoots from its base. You can see the first new shoot. |
| 22 | You can see two new shoots. | |
| 23 | You can see three new shoots. | |
| 2 . | This continues... | |
| 29 | The plant has grown the most shoots it will have. | |
| 3: Stem Getting Taller (Stem Elongation) | 30 | The part that will become the rice head (called the panicle) starts to form inside the stem. You might see a green ring in the stem. |
| 32 | The panicle is now about 1-2 mm long. | |
| 34 | The stem sections (internodes) start to get longer. The panicle is now more than 2 mm long. | |
| 37 | The very last leaf (called the flag leaf) can just be seen, still rolled up. The panicle is moving up inside the stem. | |
| 39 | The flag leaf is fully open. This is just before the panicle comes out. | |
| 4: Panicle Growing Inside (Booting) | 41 | The top part of the stem gets a bit thicker. The sheath (cover) of the flag leaf is about 5 cm out from the leaf below it. |
| 43 | The flag leaf sheath is 5–10 cm out from the leaf below it. | |
| 45 | The flag leaf sheath is swollen because the panicle is growing big inside. It's more than 10 cm out. | |
| 47 | The flag leaf sheath starts to open. | |
| 49 | The flag leaf sheath is fully open. | |
| 5: Panicle Coming Out (Heading) | 51 | The tip of the panicle (the part with the grains) starts to poke out of its sheath. |
| 52 | About 20% of the panicle is out. | |
| 53 | About 30% of the panicle is out. | |
| 54 | About 40% of the panicle is out. | |
| 55 | About half of the panicle is out. | |
| 56 | About 60% of the panicle is out. | |
| 57 | About 70% of the panicle is out. | |
| 58 | About 80% of the panicle is out. | |
| 59 | The whole panicle is out. The parts that hold pollen (anthers) are not visible yet. | |
| 6: Flowering | 61 | The plant starts to flower. You can see the anthers (which contain pollen) at the top of the panicle. |
| 65 | Most of the rice flowers are open and showing anthers. | |
| 69 | All the flowers have finished blooming. | |
| 7: Grains Developing | 71 | The first rice grains are about half their final size and are watery inside. |
| 73 | The grains are in an early "milk" stage, meaning they have a milky liquid inside. | |
| 75 | The grains are full of milky liquid. | |
| 77 | The grains are in a late "milk" stage. | |
| 8: Grains Getting Ripe (Ripening) | 83 | The grains are in an early "dough" stage, meaning the liquid inside is thicker, like soft dough. |
| 85 | The grains are soft but dry, like soft dough. If you press your fingernail into them, the mark won't stay. The grains and their husks are still green. | |
| 87 | The grains are hard, like hard dough. If you press your fingernail into them, the mark will stay. | |
| 89 | The grains are fully ripe and hard. It's difficult to break them with your thumbnail. | |
| 9: Plant Getting Old (Senescence) | 92 | The grains are very hard and can't be dented by a thumbnail. |
| 97 | The rice plant is dead and falling over. | |
| 99 | The rice has been harvested. |
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BBCH-scale (rice) Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.