FAQ: Rice culture in Rice wheat systems

76. What is the need of avoiding puddling in rice?
Puddling is wet tillage of soil in excessive water. It requires high amount of water, breaks the soil aggregates, reduces the percolation rate and soil become hard after drying. Once a puddled soil dries leading to development of cracks, and then water requirement increases many folds due to deep percolation through cracks. We can have rice in unpuddled soils without any adverse effect in yield either by direct drilling or transplanting.

77. Can rice be planted just like wheat after ZT wheat?
Many farmers grow rainfed rice crop by directly dry seeding. Rice can be grown in aerobic conditions with proper weed control in early growth stages of rice through good rain water management and use of herbicides. It reduces cost due to puddling. Under irrigated condition, better plant seed close to the surface, contrary to rainfed conditions. It is important to use cultivars suited to aerobic situations.

78. Can a rice crop be established without transplanting?
Direct seeding of rice is possible in large parts of the IGP region. A multi-seeder zero till seed drill can be used to surface seed the rice and deep place fertilizer with just pas of the tractor. This gives the almost same yields as that of transplanted rice. Direct seeded rice crop mature nearly two weeks earlier thereby creating bench space for crop diversification for growing potato, Indian mustard and winter maize or sugarcane plus wheat.

79. Can rice be transplanted without puddling?
Puddling disperse the soils such as increase bulk density of surface layers, conducive for reduced recharge of aquifer and creating ponded water conditions. Puddling helps in control of weeds and facilitates easy transplanting. On the other hand it deteriorates the soil physical properties, leads to more cracking which makes puddling effects only short-lived. On the whole puddling in rice season and tillage in wheat are counter productive practices. Puddling should preferably be avoided as it is unfavorable practice for the succeeding upland crops. Rice seeding can be transplanted in no-till system in the slits opened with ZT machine followed by an irrigation. Transplanting of rice in unpuddled soils do not change agronomic and crop management practices significantly for getting the higher rice yield..

80. Can rice seedlings be transplanted in no till fields?
The zero till seed cum ferti-drill can be used to open the slits at required spacing in no till fields. The rice seedlings can be transplanted in the open slits and pressed with foot followed by flooding.

81. Is it possible to transplant/direct seed the rice on permanent raised bed system?
There is no difficulty in transplanting direct seeding rice on permanent raised beds. Direct seeding of rice can be done with the help of bed planter fitted with zero tillage tines. For transplanting, when we apply the water in dry soil, the soil become soft and transplanting can be done easily. However to avoid problem due to standing stubbles, transplant seedlings in slits opened with by tines of ZT seed drill.

82. What are the benefits of growing rice on raised beds?
The main benefit is water saving in growing rice on raised beds, bold seed, long panicle and reduced lodging. Rice crop planted on raised beds has less ineffective tillers.

83. It is a common apprehension of the farmers that researchers are advocating higher seed rate for Direct dry seeded rice (DSR). What is the appropriate seed rate?
Higher seed rate increases costs, proportion of infertile tillers and incidence of plant hopers etc. and also suffer from Nitrogen shortages. The optimum seed rate for DSR rice seems around 35±2kg/ha depending on seed test weight.

84. Is there any adverse effect of increasing seed rate in surface seeded rice?
Use of higher seed rate in any crop increases input cost and weaken plant stand, reduce tillering and increases the proportion of infertile tillers, cause N deficiency, enhance the incidence disease and pest, and increases the chances for the crop to lodge.

85. Is it possible to reduce the seed rate in direct seeded crops?
answer not yet in the database

86. How to avoid aging seedlings of rice?
Aging seedling reduce the yield of transplanted rice because of less tillering. To avoid aging effects, seed can sown in nursery beds by staggering the dates such that 20-25days old rice seedlings become available for transplanting. Another way is opt for the double rice-transplanting system. In double transplanting system rice seedlings are first transplanted to a larger nursery and then to the main fields. Rice double transplanting also obviate the problem of late vacation of main fields.

87. Why yellowing is more in direct seeded rice on raised beds? How it can be controlled?
In case of raised beds, if the plots are not flooded for initial 1-2 weeks, benefit of enhanced nutrient availability to seedlings do not become available to young seedlings. Reduced availability of iron and zinc lead to leaf yellowing. Besides flooding, foliar sprays of zinc and iron help overcome chlorosis.

88. How direct seeded rice saves more water?
For growing rice there is no need to maintain continuous flooded conditions, which require huge quantity of water. Rice can be grown at near saturated conditions. In DSR, water savings are primarily because of reduced irrigation frequency and lower application rates of water due to reduced cracking. In puddled soils cracks develop early in the season to increase water losses.Moreover puddling itself require lot of irrigation water.

89. How can we save water in water consuming crops like rice?
We can save the water in rice by growing direct seeded rice and applying mulch. Mulch reduces weeds and the evaporation losses. As a result soil profile remains moist for long period, reducing irrigation frequency compared to puddled conditions.

90. How to raise good rice nursery with zero till-cum bed planter machine?
For healthy rice nursery it is important that nursery seed rate should be less so that each seedling get sufficient space to grow. Growing rice nursery on the raised beds, amended with organic manures and nutrient mineral mixtures further improve seedling vigor.

91. Does weed flora change in direct seeded rice?
Direct seeded rice causes a major shift in weed flora. In puddled transplanted rice, standing water by it self act as herbicide and does not allow broad leaf weeds to germinate. In DSR, conditions are more favorable for the germination of all type of weeds such as monocots, dicots and sedges.

92. Is there any critical period when weeds can be effectively controlled in direct seeded rice or bed planted rice?
Initial 2-3 weeks are critical for control of weeds in DSR. After the crop emerges, we need to flood the fields for 10-15 days. This practice takes care of most weeds after pre-emergence application of grassy herbicides.

93. What are for efficient weed management option in direct seeded and unpuddled transplanted rice?
Chemical molecules available in local market places are not appropriate for control of aquatic grassy weeds. Hence to reduce the weed intensity in rice culture, other options should also be adopted. For DSR, stale bed technique allows most weeds to emerge ahead of transplanting. These weeds can be killed by application Gramoxone/ Roundup, applied 2 days before sowing. Sowing of primed seed helps in early emergence of rice seedlings before weeds and in such situations we can apply pre-emergence herbicides more effectively. Mulching and inter-cropping are some good options to control weeds in DSR. Growing of varieties with early vigor and high tillering capacity suppress the weeds effectively in DSR.

94. How inter cropping helps in controlling the weeds in DSR?
Sowing of rice in paired rows and intercropping of some green manure crops in between the two pairs of rice can reduce the weed infestation. The green manuring crop can be killed by 10% urea spays or through application of 2-4,D before Gm crop have smothering effect on rice crop.