Reproductive stage

The reproductive stage is marked by the initiation of the panicle primodium in the apex of the growing shoot just before or just after the  maximum tillering stage in short duration variety , the panicle primodium initiates to differentiate at about 40 days after seedling, becoming  visible 11days later (visual panicle initiation ) as a white feathery cone of 1.0 - 1.5 mm in length (De Dutta 1981 ).