Growing Temperate Rice Varieties In The Temperate Way For The Summer!

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Australian Rice

Well what can do more good than RICE for this hot summer on your platter! Rice in the temperate regions is a summer crop and you will find here what makes rice a good summer crop to grow for the farmers too..with Australia as the classical temperate country growing rice!

The Plan For Growing Rice:

Australia being a major producer of temperate varieties worldwide has a very systematic way for cultivation of rice, which is well planned for the warm and wet conditions. In Australia, rice is grown as an irrigated summer crop, during the months of September to March.

1. Preparing To Sow In September:

The field is prepared for growing rice as outlined by the strict guidelines by the Rice Grower's Association (RGA) by those farmers who are able to make it to the level of procuring a license for cultivation. Initially, most of the farmers use laser-guided land leveling techniques, which though seems to be a time waster actually increases the crop productivity in the end and also cuts out your expense in the Water Use Efficiency (WUE).

2. Sowing The Seed:

Seeds are sown using aircraft guided with the help of satellite guidance technology for broadcasting simulating the technology of dropping bombs. Prior to sowing the seeds are soaked for two hours and drained for 24 hours, which raises them to be small seedlings in three days with tiny shoots like nymphs. There is minimal restriction for sowing seeds, which should be at least 120 kg/ hectare, which can nurture nearly 300 plants per square meter. No chemicals are added to the field, which is one of added advantage for the demand for Australian rice in other temperate regions where this cannot be cultivated. Pesticides and herbicides to keep the pests and weeds at bay are added to the last 10 days when they are prone to the risk of pest attacks, by spraying these chemicals only in the bay when the water that had been kept to the level of 5 to 25 cm until that time are allowed to dry out.

3. Growing Phase (January To February):

Depending on the type of variety that is grown the period of flowering and seed setting will vary. The rice plant in homozygous and are self pollinated, which forms four to five tillers with each tillers bearing a terminal flowering head or panicle and the seed setting within the protection of the husk. The rice plant roots well within the clayey soil forming additional thin aerial surface roots for oxygenation in the top soil, and thick adventitious short and white fibrous roots that are adapted for preventing radial oxygen loss (ROL) and enhancing the longitudinal gas transport. 

The only fertilizers that may be added to the soil are nitrogen and phosphorous to aid in increasing the growth.

4. Autumn Harvest (March To April):

As almost most of the varieties mature and grows to get ready by the months of March to April, they are harvested the fields are 'locked up' to prevent further water inflow and outflow, allowing the remaining water to aid in the maturation of the paddy rice (the rice that is ready for harvesting is known in Australia as the paddy rice), and are unmilled from the husk for consumption using harvesters, and the field in plown and allowed to get ready for other crops that require less water for their growth like wheat or legumes to be seeded for completing their lie cycle with the left over water in the field. 

Reaping Harvests