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OVERVIEW Rice plants require a Land Preparation, Rate of plant establishment is affected by three factors: quality of seed, environment in which seed is placed or  a steady supply of water, and therefore,  fields are often are often flooded by irrigation or planted during periods of excessive rainfall. A typical method for casting flooded field rice growing is as following: Dry land level Land Preparation The aim of land preparation is two-fold: To place the soil in the best physical condition for crop growth and  to ensure that the soil surface is left level. Then the surround field is flooded until the water level is approximately 1-2 cm high and allowed to sit for a few days Land preparation is a combination of tillage practices that places the soil in the best physical condition for plant establishment and crop growth. To attain this condition: Wet land level Soil must be tilled to a depth so plants can develop a root system which will physically support the plant and also allow the extraction of sufficient moisture and nutrients so yield potentials can be realized · Soil disturbance should be sufficient to control weeds · Tillage must leave the soil surface level. Level fields improve water use efficiency and help control in crop weeds. The field also needs a drainage system that will allow the rapid removal of excess water. Plowing After the prepared land has been allowed to sit for a few days. It is now ready for plowing. Farmers could plow the ricefield either by using modern machinery or using animal as water buffaloes. Plowing is necessary to eliminate weed  that could grow overnight in the flooded field, without using chemicals. Moreover, plowing also signifies the beginning of the rice grow cycle. Seed Preparation Direct seeding Direct seeded crops can be established using dry seed or pre-germinated seed and seedlings. They are broadcast by hand or planted by machine. In some deepwater rice areas, the seed is not incorporated after broadcasting. Germination occurs following rain or floods. To achieve an acceptable level of establishment, the farmer allows for the following factors: seed quality, soil tilth, amount of seed incorporation, and expected availability of water. The target number of plants to be established ranges from 100 to 150 plants per m2. To meet this target, seeding rates vary between 80 and 250 kg per ha. Some plant rearrangement (transplanting) is normally undertaken within the field after establishment, to even up plant stands. Broadcasting is a very efficient way of reducing labor requirements; normally one or two people can plant one hectare per day. Pre-germinated seed and seedlings In irrigated areas, seed is normally pre-germinated prior to broadcasting. Seedlings can be broadcast onto recently drained, well-puddled seedbeds or into pre-standing water in the fields. If water in the fields is muddy following the last working, the field is allowed to dry for a time period of at least 24 hrs (preferably 48 hrs) before broadcasting commences. If water is drained from the fields after broadcasting, it is re-introduced 10 to 15 days after establishment. In some irrigation areas, seedlings are broadcast post-germination with seedlings 100 to 300 mm in length. Seedling nurseries use 15 to 20 percent of the total farming area. In preparing the nursery seedbed, make sure the surface is level, free of weeds, and well drained. Some form of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer is applied to the nursery. Seeds are pre-germinated and can be broadcast into either a flooded or wet soil surface in the nursery. Seeding rates vary from 500 to 800 kg per nursery hectare depending on locality, soil type, and seed quality Hand casting by an experienced farmer   Transplanting or Casting Transplanting of rice seedlings into puddled fields is widely practiced in Thailand, primarily as a means of weed control. Transplanting requires less seed but much more labor, and the crop takes longer to mature due to transplanting shock. Prior to transplanting, seedlings are grown for varying lengths of time in the nursery. Local varieties are transplanted 40 to 80 days after establishment; improved varieties are transplanted within 20 days after establishment. Machine transplanted seedlings are transplanted 15 days after establishment Seedlings are normally hand transplanted 20 cm apart, but this distance may be increased or decreased depending on soil fertility and water supply. The range is normally 15 to 30 cm. Most mechanical transplanters place seedlings in rows 30 cm apart with in-row spacing determined by forward speed. Resting After casting, rice sprouts will mature to young plants in a few days. Water is then drained into the field until its level reaches that of the lowest leaves on the rice plant, however, the water level must not exceed 2-3 cm high. For the next 3-4 months, rice plants will be left to grow into paddy and turn lightbrown in color. In the mean time, the rice field remains constantly flooded.   Drainage Drainage of water from the field can be very important during the time of crop establishment, high rainfall events and during attacks by crop pests. In direct seeding situations which include nurseries, fields often need to be drained during the establishment stage to improve both the rate and number of plants established. While a growing rice crop can withstand total inundation for short periods, major yield losses will occur if lodged crops are flooded during the grain ripening stage and water cannot be removed because of poor drainage. In dry periods water may need to be re-circulated from one field to another to help save the crop. When pests such as the golden apple snail attack crops, the only recourse is to drain the whole field rapidly. In most level fields drains around the periphery of the field will be sufficient to drain off excess water in a timely manner. In large fields and some nurseries, small internal drains running from the center of the field to the extremities of the field may also be needed.   Cutting by sickle Harvested by machine Threshing and cleaning by machine Paddy for rice mill process   Harvesting After the drained field is completely dry, and the plant turns to hay color, the paddy harvesting is started : Harvesting rice consists of four basic operations: · Cutting: cutting the mature panicles and straw above-ground · Handling: moving the cut crop to the threshing location · Threshing: separating the paddy grain from the rest of the cut crop · Cleaning: removing immature, unfilled and non-grain materials Besides these four, a variety of other activities can be included in harvesting such as gathering, reaping, bundling, field drying, stacking and bagging. In Thailand, the most common three systems for paddy harvesting are: 1. Manual harvesting and handling, followed by threshing and cleaning by hand This includes use of traditional tools for threshing such as threshing racks, simple treadle threshers and animals for trampling 2. Manual harvesting, followed by threshing and cleaning with a threshing machine Depending on the thresher, cleaning is done either by the thresher, or by hand. 3. Mechanical harvesting, threshing, and cleaning by using a combine harvester. The combine harvester will combine all operations: cutting, handling, threshing and cleaning The goal of good harvesting methods is to ensure maximum grain yield (i.e. minimum grain loss) and minimum of quality deterioration.   By courtesy of : NSTDA and IRRI HOME Copyright By WWW.PechSiam.COM