Hybrid Rice Production Guide

Planting Guide for Rice

1. Planning and Budgeting

PLANNING. Identify the resources and materials that you will need for planting. It is important that you secure the necessary documents, especially if you will borrow money from the bank.

SOIL TESTING. Have your land tested by the Bureau of Soils Regional Office to know its fertilization and acidity level. In this way, you will be informed about the right amount of fertilizer to be used and if your soil still needs lime.

2. Land Preparation

Prepare the land two to three weeks before transplanting to ensure the fast and ideal growth of the Pioneer Hybrid Rice to be planted. This will hinder the early growth of weeds and help in proper management of fertilizer and farm irrigation.

PLOWING. Plow the land once with a medium depth, preferably 10-15 centimeters.

HARROWING. Harrow the land a week after plowing it and repeat this process after a week has passed.

LEVELING. Level the land with the use of a plowshare or a hand tractor.

ARRANGING THE EMBANKMENTS. Clean and fix the embankments to close up any holes that may serve as rats' nest or waterway that will lead to water spillage.

3. Seed and Seedbed Preparation

CHOOSING THE SEEDBED. Choose an area of the farmland which is far from the shade.

PREPARING THE SEEDBED. Make a 300-400 sqm seedbed for a 15-20 kg of seeds, good for one hectare of land. A seedbed is considered medium if it is one meter wide; its length depends on the cut of the paddy.  Put organic fertilizer with the quantity of 1 kg per sqm to making the seed grow healthy and pulling out easier to lessen damage to the roots.

PREPARING THE SEED. Soak the seeds in clean water for 24 hours. Regularly change the water every 6 hours in order to prevent the seeds from spoiling.  Get the seeds out from the water and place them in a clean container. Cover it and keep it airtight for 24-36 hours. Make sure that you keep the seeds damp.

DISPERSING THE SEEDLINGS. Grasp a handful (50 grams per 1 sqm) of the seedlings and strew them to the damp seedbed.

NURSING THE SEEDLINGS. Irrigate the seedbed after 2-3 days with a depth of 2-3 cm. Keep the seedbed well irrigated until the day when you will pull the seedlings out. On the tenth day, strew 20-40g of urea per 1 sqm or 8-16 kg per 400 sqm. It is important that the seedbed be guarded from damage brought upon by rats, snails, birds and lack of irrigation.

4. Transplanting

A seedling that is 18-21 days old can already be transplanted. Sow 1-2 seedlings per hill with a distance of 20 x 15 cm during dry season and 20 x 20 cm during wet season. Do not trim the leaves of the rice because the wound may let in bacteria that will cause plant diseases.  Sow seeds to the missing hills within a week.

5. Fertilizer Application

If a soil analysis was not conducted on your land, please refer to the following recommendations:

BASAL. Strew basal fertilizer on the last harrowing session so that it will be mixed well with the soil.

TOPDRESS. Spread the fertilizer during the tillering, vegetative and reproductive stages.

For the right kind and amount of fertilizer to be used, please refer to the table below:

FERTILIZATION RATE
Amount of fertilizers to be applied (Bags/Ha.)

Time of Application	Dry Season (160-60-90)	Wet Season (120-60-90)
Basal (1 day before transplanting)	5 bags 14-14-14	5 bags 14-14-14
Mid-tillering (38-41 days after sowing)	2 bags 16-20-0	2 bags 16-20-0
	2 bags 46-0-0	1 bag 46-0-0
	2 bags 0-0-60	2 bags 0-0-60
Early Panicle Initiation (53-56 days after sowing)	2 bags 46-0-0	1 bag 46-0-0
		1 bag 21-0-0
Flowering (80-83 days after sowing)*	1 bag 21-0-0	1 bag 21-0-0
Total in No. of Bags	14 bags	13 bags

*Recommended for better grain filling among hybrid rice varieties due to higher yield potential

6. Irrigation

Keep the soil damp up until a week after transplanting. During the early vegetation stage, it is fit that the water depth is at 2-3 cm. This will help in the growth of roots. Raise the water level to 5-7 cm during the reproductive stage and keep it at that level until the grains are milky. The rice paddy may be drained 1-2 weeks before harvest.

7. Controlling the weeds

Proper management of the irrigation is the most effective way of controlling weeds. Exterminate the weeds in the rice paddy on the first 40 days after transplanting. Use bare hands, rotary weeder or any recommended herbicide in controlling the weeds.

8. Managing the pests

Time your planting with the other farmers in your community. In this way, you will be able to prevent insects and plant diseases from attacking your farm. It is also advised that rice farmers practice the principles of the Integrated Pest Management. This includes combinations of various ways to eliminate or control pests without damaging the possible yield and earnings of the farmer.

PESTS THAT ATTACK THE LEAVES. Since rice have the ability to replace damaged leaves within the first 40 days after transplanting, it is expected that pesticides will not be needed anymore.

GREEN LEAF HOPPER (GLH). Exterminate GLH by using recommended pesticides if there is rice tungro in the neighboring farm. GLH can be a carrier of the rice disease, tungro.

STEM BORER. Use a systemic pesticide on the base of the rice plant when there are a lot of white heads and dead heart in the plant.

SNAIL. This pest can be exterminated by plucking them out with your bare hands or by using molluscicide.

RATS. Use rat poison if there are already too many of them in your farm. Keep the rat traps up to two weeks before harvest time. Keep the embankments clean so that rats will not inhabit them.

DISEASES. In pest management, avoid excessive usage of nitrogen, a high population of weeds, asynchronous planting and continuous irrigation. You may use recommended pesticides in eliminating diseases in your rice fields.

9. Harvesting

Start harvesting the rice when 80-85% of the grains are already ripe. Thresh the harvested rice grains right away.

10. Drying and storing the grains

DRYING. Dry the threshed rice under the sun for 2-3 days or you may also dry them mechanically for 6-8 days.

STORING THE GRAINS. Store the grains in a dry and cool place that is out of the insects and rats' reach.

                                                                                                               source: http://www.pioneer.com