Guide to Growing Rice for Indonesian Farmers

The way to cultivate provides information for all of you who are looking for solutions on how to solve problems. Because finding information is very important for us for the efforts we are doing in order to obtain maximum results. Therefore, here is the information about Rice Plant Cultivation that we provide to all of you, look carefully at the information. 

Rice comes from rice, this is the staple food of the Indonesian people. Haven't eaten if you haven't eaten rice, that's Indonesian people. Even though they have eaten bread or other processed foods, Indonesians will say they have not eaten. Since rice is our staple food, we must increase production. Of course with proper cultivation and handling of pests and others. The following explains how to cultivate rice properly and correctly.

HOW TO CULTIVATE RICE PLANT

NURSERY

There are several stages for  rice cultivation , before planting rice must be sown first. The nursery must be prepared and done well, meaning that good seeds are obtained, so that their growth will be good too. We need to know that only rice is a food crop that is sown before planting. Some things that must be considered in making a nursery are as follows:

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1. Choosing a Nursery 

The place to make a nursery is a requirement that must be considered in order to obtain good seeds:

• The soil should be fertile, rich in humus, and loose.
• The land must be open ground, not protected by trees, so that sunlight can be received and used fully.
• Close to water sources, especially for wet nurseries, because nurseries require a lot of water. While the dry nursery is intended to be easy to get water for watering if the nursery is dry.
• If the area to be planted is large enough, the nursery should not be gathered into one place but spread out. This is to save costs or transportation personnel.

2. Preparing the Land for Nurseries 

Nursery soil should be started approximately 50 days before planting. Because there are two types of rice, namely wet rice and dry rice, the nursery ground can also be distinguished into wet nurseries and dry nurseries.

>          Wet Nursery

In making wet nurseries, it is necessary to choose rice fields that are truly fertile. Grass and  straw that is still left behind must be cleaned first. Then the fields are flooded with water, the intention is to fill the water so that the soil becomes soft, the grass that will grow will die, and various insects that can damage the dead seeds as well.

Furthermore, when the soil is soft enough, it is then plowed/harrowed twice or the soil becomes smooth. At the same time, plots were made and the embankments were repaired. As a basic measure, the nursery area should be made approximately 1/20 of the rice field area to be planted.

>          Dry Nursery

The principle of making dry nurseries is the same as wet nurseries. The grass and the remnants of the existing straw must be cleaned first. The soil is turned over with a plow and harrowed, or can and smooth. also use a hoe, the most important thing is the soil becomes loose. After the soil becomes smooth, it is leveled and made beds. The bed sizes are as follows: 20 cm high, 120 cm wide, 500-600 cm long. Between one bed and another is given a distance of 30 cm as a ditch that can be used to facilitate: sowing seeds, watering, fertilizing, spraying pests, weeding, and removing seeds.

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3.       Sowing Seeds

To select seeds that are pithy and not, the seeds must be soaked in water. The pithy seeds will sink while the empty seeds will float. And the seeds that float can be thrown away. The purpose of soaking in addition to choosing seeds that are pithy, seeds are also so that they germinate quickly. The soaking time is enough for 24 hours, then the seeds are taken from the marinade and then wrapped in banana leaves and sacks. Ripening is left for 8 hours. If the seeds have germinated with a length of 1 mm, then the seeds are spread in the nursery. Efforts are made to spread the seeds evenly, not too tightly and not too rarely. If the spread is too tight, the seeds will grow small and weak, but if the spread is too infrequent, the seeds will grow unevenly.

4. Nursery Maintenance

< Watering

In wet nurseries, as soon as the seeds are sown, they are continuously flooded with water for 24 hours, then dried. Stagnant water is intended so that the seeds are not spread in groups so that they can be evenly distributed. The drying after inundation for 24 hours is intended so that the seeds do not rot and accelerate growth. In dry nurseries, irrigation is carried out with seepage water. Water is put in the ditch between the beds, so the beds will constantly get water and the seeds will grow without drying out. When the seeds are large enough, inundation is done by looking at the situation. In the nursery beds if a lot of grass is overgrown, it needs to be filled with water. If the nursery is not overgrown with grass, then waterlogging is only when needed. 

< Treatment

To prevent the possibility of disease, the nursery needs to be sprayed with insecticide twice, ie 10 days after sowing and after 17 days of seedling.

 SOIL TREATMENT

Soil preparation for rice planting should have been prepared since two months of planting. The implementation can be done in two ways, namely the traditional way and the modern way.

• Processing of paddy fields in the traditional way, i.e. tillage of paddy fields with simple tools such as sickles, hoes, plows and harrows, all of which are done by humans or assisted by animals, for example, buffalo and cows.
• Processing of paddy fields in a modern way, namely rice field processing which is carried out by machines. With tractors and earthworks that are self-contained.

1. Cleaning 

Before the field is hoeed, it must be cleaned first of the existing straw or grass. Collected in one place or made into compost. Should not be burned, because burning straw that will remove nitrogen substances which are very important for plant growth.

2. Cultivation

The fields to be plowed must be filled with water first so that the soil becomes soft and the grass rots quickly. The plowing work was also continued with the repair of leaky embankments.

3. Piracy

Before piracy, rice fields must be flooded first. Plowing starts from the edge or from the middle of a rice field plot that is between 12-20 cm deep. the purpose of plowing is to kill and bury the grass, and immerse organic materials such as: green manure, manure, and compost so that they mix with the soil. After plowing the fields, water is filled again for 5-7 days to accelerate the decay of plant remains and soften lumps of soil.

4. Harrowing

At the time of harrowing the puddle of water will be reduced. So that it is enough just to wet the lumps of soil. The harrowing is done repeatedly so that the remnants of the grass are submerged and reduce the seepage of water to the bottom. After the first plowing is completed, the rice fields are flooded again for 7-10 days, after a few days a second plowing is carried out. The goals are: leveling the soil, leveling the embedded base fertilizer, and puddling to make it more perfect.

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PLANTING

The planting work is preceded by the work of removing the seeds in the nursery. The seeds to be removed are seedlings that are 25-40 days old (depending on the type), have 5-7 leaves. Before sowing 2 or 3 days the soil is flooded so that the soil becomes soft and makes it easier to remove. 

The trick, we hold 5 to 10 stems of seeds together and then pull them towards our bodies, try not to break the stems. The characteristics of good seeds include:

• - Age not more than 40 days
• - Height is approximately 25 cm
• - Leaves 5-7 strands
• - Stems are large and strong
• - Free from pests and diseases

Seedlings that have been removed are then tied in a large bundle for easy transport. Seeds that have been removed must be planted immediately, do not stay overnight. 

Good rice planting must use an array to the right and left with a distance of 20 x 20 cm, this is to facilitate maintenance, either weeding or fertilizing and allow each plant to get sufficient sunlight and nutrients evenly.

By walking backwards, the left hand holds the seeds, the right hand plants, each hole 2 or 3 seedlings, about 3 or 4 cm deep. try to plant upright not tilted. Try not to plant the seeds too deep or too shallow. Seeds that are planted too deep will inhibit the growth of roots and seedlings. Seeds that are planted too shallow will cause them to easily fall or be washed away by the flow of water. Thus, it is clear that planting seeds that are too deep or too shallow will affect production results.

MAINTENANCE

A.     Watering

Water is an absolute requirement for  the growth of  rice plants . The problem of irrigation for lowland rice is one of the important factors that must receive full attention in order to obtain future harvests. The water used for irrigating rice in rice fields is water that comes from rivers, because river water contains a lot of mud and dirt which is very useful for increasing soil and plant fertility. Water that comes from springs is not good for irrigating rice fields, because the water is clear, does not contain mud and dirt. 

Incorporating water into the fields can be done in the following ways:

• a          The water that is fed into the paddy fields is water that comes from secondary canals. Water is fed into the rice fields through the inlet channel, by stopping the water in the secondary channel first.
• b          To keep the puddle of water in the paddy field constant, don't forget to make a drain hole. The intake and exhaust holes must not be straight. This is so that there is a deposition of mud and dirt which is very useful for plant growth. If the inlet and outlet holes are made straight, the water will continue to flow without any precipitation
• . c         When irrigating rice plants in the fields, the depth of the water must be considered and adjusted to the age of the plant. The water depth should be adjusted as follows:
1. Plants aged 0-8 days in enough water 5 cm.
2. Plants aged 8-45 days in water can be added up to 10-20 cm.
3. Rice plants that have formed grains and are starting to turn yellow, the depth of water can be increased up to 25 cm. after that it was reduced little by little.
4. Ten days before harvest the rice fields are completely dried. So that the rice can cook together.

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B.    Weeding and Embroidery

After planting, if there are rice plants that die, they must be replaced (embroidered). Embroidery plants can match the others, if the replacement of new seeds does not exceed 10 days after planting. In addition to embroidery, what needs to be done is weeding so that the weeds that grow around the rice plants do not grow much and take the nutrients needed by the rice plants. Weeding is done twice, the first is after the rice is 3 weeks old and the second is after the rice is 6 weeks old.

C.   Fertilization

Fertilization aims to add nutrients and food elements needed by plants in the soil. For rice plants, fertilizers used include:

1. Natural fertilizer, as a basic fertilizer given 7-10 days before the plant can be used natural fertilizers, for example: green manure, manure, and compost. The quantity is approximately 10 tons/ha.
2. Artificial fertilizers are given after planting, for example: ZA/Urea, DS/TS, and ZK. The benefits of the fertilizer are as follows:
1. ZA/Urea: fertilize the soil, accelerate the growth of tillers, accelerate the growth of plants, and increase the size of the grain.
2. DS/TS: accelerates plant growth, stimulates flowering and fruit formation, accelerates harvest.
3. ZK : provides plant resistance to pests / diseases, and accelerates the manufacture of starch.

D.     Eradication of Pests and Diseases

• Birds, many attack the yellowing rice, use objects to drive them away.
• Walang sangit, the attack is carried out when the rice is still young, Walang sangit can be eradicated by spraying with DDT or using a torch (installed with lights).
• Rats, this one animal can harm farmers in large numbers because they can damage a fairly large area in a short time. Rats can be eradicated by gropyokan or by baiting members in the form of cassava, corn and so on mixed with phosphorus.
• Insect caterpillars, the insects lay eggs on the leaves, when they hatch the caterpillars damage the stems and leaves. How to eradicate it must be sprayed with insecticide drugs, for example: DDT, Aldrin, Endrin, Diazinon and so on.