Bradbrook - 2012 - Rice Farming complete with methods to increase ric

a. Water management
Alternately flooding and draining the riee field is a good practice to discourage
insects that inhabit the soil, viral diseases, and virus vectors.
b. Weed management
Weeds can be either good or bad for rice plants. Many weeds act as alternate hosts
of pests and pathogens, but they also provide shelter to beneficial insects that are
natural enemies of insect pests. The best course of action to take in terms of weed
management is to remove weeds that grow within the rows of plants but allow
weeds to grow near the rice field to serve as habitats for natural enemies of pests.
c. Fertilizer management
As previously mentioned, avoid providing too much nitrogen as this encourages
heavy growth that attract insect pests.
d. Biological control
Although insect infestation might convince farmers to spray pesticides, it is not
advisable because pesticides indiscriminately kill all insects. In the process,
beneficial insects such as natural parasites and predators of the target insect pest
are also eradicated. Furthermore, eradicating one insect pest might leave an
opening for another insect (i.e. secondary pest) to attack the plants. Following
proper cultural management practices is the best course of action to take.
e. Planting time
Planting at the earliest possible time is more desirable than planting later when
insect population is higher.
f. Cropping pattern
It is better to plant the entire rice-growing area at the same time than leave gaps in
the schedule of planting. If rice plants in one field mature earlier than those in
another field, insect pests can relocate to that other field and continue their
damage. The result is higher yield losses over a wider area from insect pests.
5. Disease management
The most damaging diseases attacking rice plants are sheath blight, blast, stem rot,
bacterial panicle blight, grain smuts, the Cercospora complex, seed rot, and water
mold.
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