CROP GUIDE - RICE SUGGESTED PACKAGE OF PRACTICES

RICE

During 1999-2000  rice was grown on 26.04 hectares with total production of 17.16 lakh tonnes. The yield was  3347 kg per hectare (1338 kg per acre). The average  yield in terms of paddy in Punjab was 5020 kg per hectare (2008 kg per acre).

SUGGESTED VARIETIES

AGRONOMIC PRACTICES:

Application of farmyard manure: Apply six tonnes of farmyard manure per acre and save 16 kg of N (35 Kg of Urea). Since farmyard manure is not available in the required quantities, green manuring by dhaincha/cowpea/sun hemp is the suggested alternative. After harvesting wheat or any other preceding crop, apply rauni and sow 20 kg/acre dhaincha seed pre-socked in water for 8 hours or 12 kg/acre of cowpea (20 kg bold seed is used) or 20 kg/acre of sun hemp upto first week of May. Apply 75 kg of superphosphate per acre to dhaincha/cowpea/sunhemp and omit application of phosphorus to succeeding rice crop. Burry 6 to 8 weeks old dhaincha/cowpea/sun hemp one day before transplanting of paddy. This practice results in saving of 25 kg of N (55 kg urea)  per acre. To get higher yield practice green manuring and apply recommended dose of nitrogen (50 kg N/acre) to rice grown in loamy sand to sandy loam soils.

Land Preparation: Repair all bunds. Obtain a fine well leveled puddle to reduce water loss through percolation, to maintain good seedling vigour and control weeds.

  Seed-Rate and Seed Treatment:  Dip the seed in suitable lots in water contained in tub/bucket. Stir the seed and remove immature grains which float at the top. The heavy seeds will settle down at the bottom. Eight kg of heavy seed is sufficient for transplanting an acre. Heavy seed ensures healthy, sturdy and uniform seedlings. Soak the selected seed in 10 litres of water containing g Ceresan wet and 1 g Streptocycline for  8 to 10 hours before sowing. If Ceresan wet is not available, use  10 g Agallot or 5 g Tafasan/Aaretan.

Nursery Raising: The time and method of sowing are important for getting healthy seedlings.

(i) Time of Nursery Sowing: 10^th to 20^th May is the optimum time of sowing for all recommended varieties.

 (ii) Land Preparation, Fertilisers and Method of Sowing: Mix 12 to 15 tonnes of well-rotten farmyard manure or compost per acre in the soil.  Irrigate the  field to permit the germination of weeds. Plough the field twice after a week to kill germinated weeds. Thereafter at the time of nursery  sowing, Flood the field and puddle it well. Bullock drawn or tractor drawn puddling implements. Apply  26 kg urea and 60 kg super phosphate per acre to the soil at the last puddling. For raising healthy seedlings  broadcast zinc sulphate  at 40 kg per acre  to the nursery. Prepare  plots measuring 10m x 2m or  any other convenient size.

Pre germinate the wet treated seeds by spreading them uniformly, 7-8 cm thick, over wet gunny bags and cover the same with wet gunny bags. Keep the layer of seeds moist by sprinkling water on it periodically. The seeds sprout in about 24 - 26 hours.

Sow the pre germinated seed at 1 kg per 20 sq. metres by broadcasting. Keep the soil moist by irrigating the plot frequently. To check the damage from birds, broadcast a thin layer of well decomposed farmyard manure immediately after broadcasting rice seed. Apply another dose of 25 kg urea per acre about a fortnight after sowing so as t get the seedlings ready for transplanting in 25 - 30 days. However, if a nursery  of about 45 days or above is to be transplanted, apply another dose of 25 kg urea  after four weeks of sowing. Eight seed beds (6.5 marlas)  sown with 8 kg of seed are sufficient to transplant an acre. In case, any insect attack or disease appears in the nursery, adopt the recommended plant protection measures.

Irrigate the nursery regularly. The seedlings are ready when 2- - 25 cm tall or with 6 - 7 leaves. If the seedlings in the nursery show yellowing of leaf tips, spray them three times with 0.5 - 1 percent ferrous sulphate solution  (0.5 - 1 kg ferrous sulphate dissolved in 100 litres of water per acre) at weekly intervals. If the leaves turn rusty brown after becoming yellow, give a spray o 0.5 per cent zinc sulphate solution (0.5 kg zinc sulphate in 100 litres of water per acre).

CAUTION: To avoid the mixing of varieties in the field, do not grow the rice at the site of last year's threshing.

(iii) Weed Ccontrol:   Swank and some other annual grasses are the main problems in rice nursery. These weeds can be controlled by the application of 1200 ml per acre of any liquid formulation of Butachlor 50 EC mixed with 60 kg of sand after 7 days of broadcasting pre-germinated rice seed. Alternatively apply SOFIT 37.5 EC (Pretilachlor  + Sanfer readymix) at 500 ml per acre     as sand mix 3 days after sowing of pre-germinated rice seed.

Preparation of Mat -Type Nursery for Paddy Transplanter :

Prepare soil mixed with farmyard manure in equal proportions. Add 400 g of nitrogen (900 g of ura) in about 20 baskets of this soil mixture. This soil is sufficient for growing seedlings for one acre. Level the ground where seedlings are to be sown and spread 50-60  gauge polythene sheet, 90 cm wide over it. Empty bags of gypsum or fertiliser can also be used for this purpose. Place one or wooden frames having 12 compartments of 40 x 20 x 2 cm  in each frame over the polythene sheet or empty bags. Polythene sheets weighing 350 g spread to a length of about 20 metres foe (200 mats) is sufficient for preparing seedlings for one acre. Fill the prepared soil mixture in the frame uniformly upto the top surface. Spread about 50 g of pre-germinated seed evenly in each compartment to achieve uniform density of 2 or 3 seedlings/sq cm in mat. About 10 kg seed is sufficient to sow 200 mats required for transplanting one acre.   Cover the seeds by a thin layer of soil and sprinkle water by hand sprayer for proper setting of the soil. Lift frames and put these at the next place and repeat the above procedure for sowing the required number of seedling mats. One person can sow seedlings for one acre in a day.

Transplantation :  

(i) Dates of Transplantation: Time of transplanting is a single factor which influences rice yield   substantially. For getting maximum yield of rice and for the timely  vacation of the field for  sowing wheat and other crops adopt the following transplantation schedule:

        10^th June to 20^th June                       PR 116, PR 114, PR 111, PR 108, PR 106 and PR 113

        20^th June to 30^th June                       PR 115

(ii) Age of Seedlings at Transplanting:  Start uprooting the nursery when the seedlings become 30 days old. As the transplanting proceeds, use seedlings from the same nursery sown in May.  Seedlings older than 30 days upto 55 days give better yield under late transplanting.

(iii) Uprooting of Seedlings:  Irrigate the nursery before uprooting. Wash the seedlings in water to remove mud.

(iv)  Method of Transplanting:  Transplant seedlings in lines at 20 x 15 cm (33 hills /sq m) for the normal and 15 x 15 cm (44 hills/sq m) for the late transplanting. Put 2 seedlings per hill. The seedlings should be transplanted upright and about 2-3 cm deep. This practice ensures good establishment of seedlings and early tillering, which are essential for good tiller development and synchronous flowering. Manually operated paddy transplanter can also be used for this operation.  

Weed Control:   

Interculture both the early and timely transplanted crops with paddy-weeder, 15days after transplanting and again after a fortnight. Where a paddy weeder cannot be run, hand weeding may be done.  

The use of herbicides is both efficient and economical. The following herbicides are recommended for use in transplanted rice 2 to 3 days after transplanting.                

Butachlor 50 EC         

    Machete/Delchlor/Hiltachlor/Punch/HiRasayan/            1200 ml

    Shriram Butachlor/                                                                              

    Thunder/Capchlor/Milchlor/Megachlor/Fychlor/

    Narmadachlor/Trapp/ Teer/ArchlorMeghachlor/

    Butachlor-Sunbeam/Markchlor/Paklor/

    Banweed/Butacid/Jaibutachlor/

Anilofos   18 EC

    Arozin                                                                                    850 ml

Anilofos 30 EC

   Arizon/Aniloguard/Libra/Control/ H-30/                          500 ml