Production technology of Paddy (Rice)

Cultivation Practices of Paddy - Oryza sativa 

Soil :

  Paddy can be grown in wide variety of soils ranging from loam to sandy loam to clay loam, but clay loam soils with good water retention capacity are considered as the best. Rice can be cultivated in both acidic as well as alkaline soil.

Climate:  

     The average temperature  required throughout the life period of the crop ranges from  21 to 37 ̊C. At the time of tillering the crop requires a higher temperature than for growth. 

    Temperature requirement for blooming is in the range of 26.5 to 29.50 C. At the time of ripening, the temperature should be between 20-250 C. Photo-periodically, rice is a short-day plant. However, there are varieties which are non-sensitive to photoperiodic conditions.

Seasons:

    Since rice can grow in a variety of climate and altitude it is cultivated in different seasons in different parts of the country. In areas of high rainfall and low winter temperature (northern and western parts) rice crop is grown once a year- during May to November. Two or three crops are grown in the southern and eastern states.

    India has three rice farming seasons- summer, autumn and winter. However, the chief rice growing season is ‘kharif’ season also called ‘winter rice’. The sowing time is June-July and is harvested during November- December months. 84% of the country’s rice supply is grown in the kharif crop.

How to select rice varieties:

Use healthy seeds of a locally adapted variety to get a good crop that has high yield potential and a good market price.

Each rice growing country should have a list of released varieties within the country.

Good quality seeds (left) are uniform in size, full, and plump; while poor quality seeds (right) are often discolored.

Duration : Grown first in Nursery then transplanted to Main field

    90 to 160 days classified into three classes

•         Short Duration (90-120) days,
•         Medium Duration (120-140) days &
•         Long Duration (140-160) days.

Nursery Practices

Types of Paddy Nursery

• Wet-bed, Dry-bed, Dapog, Modified Mat nursery are the four type of Paddy Nursery

Seed rate for Nursery:

1. 30 kg for long duration
2. 40 kg for medium duration
3. 60 kg for short duration varieties and
4. 20 kg for hybrids.

Forming Seedbeds for Nursery:

• Mark plots of 2.5m breadth with channels 30cm wide all around the seedbeds.
• Length of the seed bed may vary from 8 to 10m according to soil and slope of the land.

Paddy Nursery

Sowing in Nursery:

• Soak in water forenight of sowing, Sow the sprouted seeds uniformly on the seedbed, having thin film of water in the nursery.
• Broadcast on Seed bed of Nursery.

Nursery Paddy ready to transplant

Transplanting to Mainfield:

• After attaining growth in the Nursery the Seedling have to transplanted to the Main field.

• Optimum age of the seedlings for transplanting is 18-22 days for Short, 25-30 days for Medium and 35-40 days for long duration varieties.
• In SRI (System Of Rice Intensification 12-14th day).

Transplanting Operation

Mainfield Practices

Field preparation: 

• Plough the land during summer to economize the water requirement for initial preparation of land.
• Field is ploughed once or twice to obtain a good tilth.
• Flood the field 1 or 2 days before ploughing and allow water to soak in. Keep the surface of the field covered with water.
• Keep water to a depth of 2.5cm at the time of puddling.
• Apply 12.5 t of FYM or compost or green leaf manure @ 6.25 t/ha.
• If green manure is raised @ 20 kg/ha in situ, incorporate it to adepth of 15 cm using a green manure trampler or tractor.
• Apply 22 kg urea/ha at the time of first puddling while incorporating the stubbles of previous crop to compensate immobilization of N by the stubbles. This may be done at least 10 days prior to planting of subsequent crop.
• For SRI, 4-5 ploughing is required for preparing the land & in the last ploughing, we need to ensure it is upto a depth of 6 inches.
• Perfect levelling is a pre requisite for the water management in SRI.

Spacing:

• Many spacing are adopted according to thier convenience ie. 5x10cm, 20x10cm, 20x15cm, 20x10cm, 20x15cm, 20x20cm.

• In SRI 25x25cm

Do-s and Don’t-s in SRI

1. Early Transplanting: Transplant 8-12 day old seedlings, with only two small leaves,( More tillering potential and root growth potential)
2. Careful Transplanting:Minimise trauma in transplanting. Remove plant from nursery with the seed, soil and roots carefully and place it in the field without plunging too deep into soil (More tillering potential)
3. Wide Spacing: plant single seedlings, not in clumps, and in a square pattern 25cm x 25cm apart or wider. Do not plant in rows. (More root growth potential)
4. Weeding and Aeration: use simple mechanical "rotating hoe" that churns up soil; 2 weedings required, (More root growth, due to reduced weed competition, and aeration of soil, giving roots more Oxygen and Nitrogen due to increased microbial activity) Each additional weeding after two rounds results in increased productivity up to 2 t/ha / weeding.
5. Water Management:regular water application to keep soil moist but not saturated, with intermittent dryings, alternating aerobic and anaerobic soil conditions (More root growth because it avoids root degeneration, enables better abosrption of nutrients from the soil).
6. Compost / FYM applied instead of or in addition to chemical fertilizer; 10 tons/ha (More plant growth because of better soil health and structure, and more balanced nutrient supply)

In SRI Cultivation 8 to 12 days old seedlings are planted. So root system grows well and gives 30 to 50 tillers. When all the 6 management practices are followed then per plant 50 to 100 tillers are produced and high yields can be realised.

Management Practices with Cost efficient

Water Management:

• Drain the water 18 to 24 hrs after sowing
• Care must be taken to avoid stagnation of water in any part of the seedbed.
• Allow enough water to saturate the soil from 3rd to 5th day. From 5th day onwards, increase the water depth to 1.5cm depending on the height of the seedlings.
• Thereafter maintain 2.5cm depth of water.
• Generally 900-2500mm of  water needed for production of  Rice.

Weed Management:

• Apply any one of the pre-emergence herbicides viz., Pretilachlor + safener 0.3kg/ha, on 3rd or 4th day after sowing to control weeds in the lowland nursery.  
• Keep a thin film of water and allow it to disappear.  
•  This will control germinating weeds.  

Paddy drying methods include traditional and mechanical systems with varying technological complexity and capacities for either farm or commercial level.

Manures and fertilizer application :

    • Blanket recommendation : 50:25:25 kg NPK/ha 

    • Apply a basal dose of 750 kg of FYM enriched with fertilizer phosphorus (P at 25 kg/ha) 

    • Apply N and K in two equal splits at 20-25 and 40-45 days after germination. 

    • If the moisture availability from the tillering phase is substantial, three splits (25 kg N and 12.5 kg K at 20-25, 40-45 and 60-65 DAS) can be adopted.  

    • Basal application of FeSO4 at 50 kg/ha is desirable for iron deficient soil. 

    • Foliar spray of 1% urea + 2% DAP + 1%KCl at PI and 10 days later may be taken up for enhancing the rice yield if sufficient soil moisture is ensured.

Mature Paddy grains 

 Harvesting:

• Taking the average duration of the crop as an indication, drain the water from the field 7 to 10 days before the expected harvest date as draining hastens maturity and improves harvesting conditions.
• When 80% of the panicles turn straw colour, the crop is ready for harvest.  Even at this stage, the leaves of some of the varieties may remain green.
• Confirm maturity by selecting the most mature tiller and dehusk a few grains. If the rice is clear and firm, it is in hard dough stage.
• When most of the grains at the base of the panicle in the selected tiller are in a hard dough stage, the crop is ready for harvest. At this stage harvest the crop, thresh and winnow the grains.
• Dry the grains to 12% moisture level for storage. Grain yield in rice is estimated only at 14% moisture for any comparison.
• Maturity may be hastened by 3-4 days by spraying 20% NaCl a week before harvest to escape monsoon rains.

Paddy Harvesting

Drying:

Drying reduces grain moisture content to a safe level for storage. It is the most critical operation after harvesting a rice crop. 

When rice is harvested, it will contain up to 25% moisture. High moisture level during storage can lead to grain discoloration, encourage development of molds, and increase the likelihood of attack from pests. It can also decrease the germination rate of the rice seed.

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It is important to dry rice grain as soon as possible after harvesting— ideally within 24 hours. Delays in drying, incomplete drying or ineffective drying will  reduce grain quality and result in losses.

To see video of Entire Rice cultivation Click here