Rice is grown across a wider range of conditions than any other Indian crop — from flooded deltas to rainfed uplands. This guide covers the transplanted irrigated system, which is the most common form and where the largest management gains are available.
Nursery Management
A weak nursery guarantees a weak crop. This stage gets the least attention and repays it most.
- Choose a level, well-drained site near a water source
- Apply well-decomposed farmyard manure to the nursery bed
- Raise beds slightly above the surrounding level so water drains rather than stagnating
- Treat seed before sowing — seed treatment prevents several early diseases at negligible cost
- Do not sow too thickly. Crowded seedlings are tall, thin and weak, and they establish poorly after transplanting
Seedling Age at Transplanting
This is one of the highest-impact decisions in the whole crop.
Older seedlings have already begun forming tillers in the nursery and lose that potential when transplanted. Younger seedlings recover faster and produce more productive tillers.
The recommended age differs by variety duration — shorter-duration varieties are transplanted younger. Get the figure for your variety from your KVK. Farmers who habitually transplant over-age seedlings because labour was unavailable are losing yield every season without knowing where it went.
Transplanting
- Puddle and level the field well. Uneven levelling is the most common cause of patchy fields — high spots dry out, low spots drown
- Transplant in lines rather than at random. Line transplanting allows mechanical weeding and improves light penetration
- Plant shallow, 2 to 3 cm. Deep planting delays tillering
- Use the recommended number of seedlings per hill for your variety — usually fewer than farmers instinctively plant
Water Management
Continuous deep flooding is traditional but is not necessary for most of the crop’s life, and it wastes a large volume of water.
Alternate wetting and drying
The field is irrigated, then allowed to dry until the water level drops a set distance below the surface, then irrigated again. Research and field experience indicate this can substantially reduce water use with little or no yield penalty when managed correctly.
A simple field water tube — a perforated pipe sunk into the soil so you can see the water level below the surface — lets you judge when to irrigate rather than guessing.
When not to let the field dry
Keep water standing during the flowering period. This is the stage at which water stress causes the largest loss. Alternate wetting and drying is for the vegetative period, not for flowering.
Nutrients
Nitrogen is applied in splits, aligned with the crop’s demand peaks rather than all at once. Applying all nitrogen at transplanting produces lush early growth, attracts pests and increases lodging risk, and much of the nitrogen is lost.
Zinc deficiency is widespread in rice soils and produces stunting with brown lesions. Soil testing identifies it and correction is inexpensive.
Weeds
Weed competition is heaviest in the first 40 days. Good levelling and maintaining a shallow water layer suppress many weeds by themselves. Mechanical weeders work well in line-transplanted fields and reduce herbicide dependence.
Major Pests and Diseases
- Stem borer — dead hearts in the vegetative stage, white ears at panicle stage. Pheromone traps help with monitoring and timing
- Brown planthopper — insects at the base of the plant, causing hopperburn. Often triggered by excess nitrogen and by broad-spectrum sprays that killed its natural enemies
- Leaf folder — leaves folded and scraped white
- Blast — spindle-shaped lesions with grey centres, worse in humid conditions and with high nitrogen
- Bacterial leaf blight — yellowing along leaf margins, spread by water and wounds
Two points cover most of these: avoid excess nitrogen, which makes the plant more attractive and more susceptible to nearly everything, and avoid routine broad-spectrum spraying, which is the direct cause of most planthopper outbreaks.
Harvest
Harvest when most grains in the panicle have hardened and the moisture has dropped to a safe level. Harvesting late causes shattering losses; harvesting very early gives immature grain and poor milling recovery.
Dry the grain properly and cool it before sealing into storage.
Residue
Do not burn straw. Beyond the environmental and legal issues, burning destroys organic matter and nutrients the soil needs. Options include incorporating residue, using it as mulch for the following crop, baling for fodder or industrial use, or zero-till drilling wheat directly into the standing stubble.
Varieties, seedling age, spacing and nutrient doses vary by region and duration class. Get recommendations for your district from your Krishi Vigyan Kendra before planning.