Rice

Land Preparation

Importance of Land Preparation

• Timely land preparation can ensure planting at an optimal time.
• Mobility and tillage depth depend largely on water management.
• If the soil is kept wet and soft, then all equipment - especially larger equipment will tend to sink, create problems of mobility and tillage depth.
• When tillage layers are too deep then subsequent operations such as walking, movement of power tiller or combine harvester can have problems.
• Tillage can reduce weed burdens. Till on moist soil and re-till after two weeks just prior to planting to kill germinating weeds.
• Soil does not have to be saturated for residues to break down.
• Residue decomposition is best at soil moisture levels of a moist but well drained field (i.e., less than field capacity) or the soil should be just wet.

  Typical comparison of tillage systems and time required: System hrs/ha: Animal120 - 135, Hand tractor40 - 604, Wheel tractor 5 - 10

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Systems of rice cultivation and Land preparation

• Two major systems of rice cultivation namely, Dry or upland system and Wet system are existing in all rice growing areas.
• In upland system the crop is grown under rain fed conditions on dry ground as in case of other cereals.
• In wetland system the land is flooded and puddled where the crop is grown in standing water.
• More specifically rice is cultivated in four systems like. Upland, Irrigated, Rain fed lowland and Deep water.
• The land preparation varies with the system under which rice is cultivated.
• Summer ploughing is resorted to dry and semi-dry system (upland rice culture)
• This system is mostly confined to the tracts, which depend on rains and do not possess adequate irrigation facilities.
• In the semi dry system the rainwater is allowed to get accumulated in the field when the crop is 5-6 weeks old.
• In this system, the field is provided with deep summer ploughing 40-45 days prior to the onset of monsoons.
• The next widely adopted system is irrigated system otherwise known as wet system.
• In this system seedlings are raised in the nursery bed and later transplanted in puddled main field.
• The main object of raising seedlings is to obtain healthy planting material, utilize the main field till the seedlings become ready, minimize the cost by using less seed material etc.

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Preparation of Nursery

Wet nursery

• The area intended for nursery raising should have an assured water supply and an efficient drainage system.
• Should be dry ploughed twice and later, it should be irrigated and allowed to be wet for another two days.
• Afterwards it should be puddled twice and the puddling may be repeated after a gap of one week.
• This process of puddling contributes in obtaining good tilth, removal of weeds and also facilitates water retention.
• To plant one hectare 750 sq.m of nursery is required
• Recommended inorganic fertilizers are to be applied after first phase of puddling.
• After levelling and final puddling, beds of convenient length with width of 1.5 m are to be made, leaving 50 cm channels in between two beds.

Dry nursery

• In this method the field is ploughed 5-6 times
• Beds of 1.5 m width and convenient length are to be prepared
• Channels are to be provided for irrigating and draining of the beds
• After preparing the beds they are to be wetted

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Preparation of main field

• The main field is to be dry ploughed for twice three weeks before planting .
• Later, field may be ploughed with 5-10 cm of standing water 2-3 times. This process is known as puddling
• Dry ploughings may be carried out with tractor or power tiller.
• If country plough is used, the ploughings have to be increased.
• The application of 12.5 tons of farm yard manure or 6.25 t of green manure per ha and its incorporation by puddling is recommended. This operation facilitates better decomposition of the manure and/or the green manures
• The fertilizers recommended for basal application have to be applied before the last puddling and incorporated.
• Later, proper levelling has to be made before transplanting the seedlings.
• Sometimes irrigation water is received late in the season due to delay of monsoon rains or insufficient rainfall.In such occasion the field has to be ploughed cross wise with the receipt of first monsoon rains.

Levelling

• Leveling helps in bringing puddled undulated into leveled field
• To maintain uniform depth of water in main field.
• To increase water use efficiency by maintaining shallow depths of water up to panicle initiation stage.
• Maintenance of shallow water depth is possible only when the land is perfectly leveled. Shallow planting is possible only at shallow water depth, which helps, in better seedling establishment, which helps in turn for early tillering.
• Better utilization of nutrients by managing uniform depth of water throughout the field.
• Perfect levelling helps in complete draining of water - facilitates easy harvesting of crop without loss of grain.
• If a pulse is sown after paddy uniform establishment of pulse crops can be achieved.
• Oxygen diffusion is more uniform.
• Reduction of deep percolation of water and inputs to a certain extent.

Digging corners and maintenance of bunds

• Dig the corners of field which are not covered by ploughing
• Cut off 2.5 cm of soil from the top and sides of the bunds to remove the weeds along with their seeds and to destroy the eggs of insect pests by using spade.
• If the bunds are very broad, trim them to a width of 15 cm and height of 15 cm so that rats do not harbor in the bunds.
• If rat burrows are noticed, insert pellets of 0.5 g or 0.6 g aluminium phosphide and plug the exit holes.
• Apply mud paste to the side and top of the bund to a thickness of 2.5 cm with a spade and plaster it using the flat surface of the spade.
• Plastering the bunds helps in checking weed growth and prevents harboring of insect pests.

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