Maclean et al. - 2002 - Rice almanac source book for the most important e

flooding the rice field to stimulate weed
germination, and late seedbed preparation using
disk harrows to destroy already emerged young
seedlings. Weed seedlings are then controlled by a
pass of a disk harrow or with dalapon, glyphosate,
or other total graminicides. Weedy rice can also
be controlled with an application of pretilachlor,
about one month before planting.
In 2000, rice was cultivated on European
Union farms on a total of about 410,000 ha. The
most important rice-producing countries are Italy
(221,000 ha), Spain (111,000 ha), Portugal
(31,000 ha), Greece (27,000 ha), and France
(19,000 ha). Spain and Greece have been the
countries where the area of rice farming has
shown the greatest change over the last 10 years,
with increases of about 24% and 68%,
respectively. The average rice yield in these
countries is 6.6 t/ha, although farm yields of 7–
7.5 t/ha are frequently recorded.
Beyond the European Union, the main
countries producing rice in the region are Egypt
and Turkey.
Rice is an important crop in Egypt, where it
occupies more than 20% of the cultivated area
during the summer season and engages about 1
million families. Rice yields in Egypt are among
the highest in the world, thanks to the fertile soil
of the Nile delta, high intensity of sunlight, few
diseases and insect pests, good irrigation system,
and a well-organized national rice research
program. The average yield has increased
dramatically in the past 15 years, from 5.7 t/ha in
1985 to 7.1 t/ha in 1990 and 9.1 t/ha in 2000. Two
of the seven rice-growing governorates (Beheira
and Garbia) yielded about 9.5 t/ha.
During the last few years, Egypt has attained
a considerable surplus of rice for export. This has
been achieved by releasing and spreading new
early and high-yielding varieties such as Giza
70 Rice almanac