Tag Archives: rice

New Rice Planting Method Makes Herbicides Necessary in Pakistan

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Traditionally, rice has been planted manually in flooded fields in Pakistan. This method of planting requires large amounts of water and a high level of labor. The sustainability of this system is threatened by severe labor and water shortages. Research has focused on direct machine planting of rice seeds in non-flooded soil. However, weeds flourish when the soil is not flooded making herbicides a necessary component of the new planting system.

“An increasing water crisis, as well as the unavailability and high cost of labor, in Pakistan has forced rice-growers to plant rice directly into the field. However, severe weed infestation causes disastrous effects on the productivity of this rice system. In this study, three herbicides were evaluated for weed control in direct-planted rice on a sandy loam soil. Weedy check and weed-free plots were established for comparison. Weed infestation decreased the rice yield by 75.2%. However, the application of herbicides suppressed the weed infestation, with a simultaneous increase in the rice yield.” 

Author: Khawar Jabran, et al.
Affiliation: Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Title: Application of bispyribac-sodium provides effective weed control in direct-planted rice on a sandy loam soil.
Publication: Weed Biology and Management. 2012. 12:136-145.

Chinese Rice Farmers Use Insecticides to Control Invasive US Pest

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The rice water weevil is an insect native to the southern US, where its native food was grass. Following the introduction of rice into the US, the weevil shifted from grasses to feed on rice. This shift was first reported in the 1880s. In the late 1950s, the insect was found in northern California rice fields. From there, the weevil was carried across the Pacific into Asia in the mid-1970s. First detected in China in 1988, the rice water weevil has become a major rice pest and has spread all across the country.

“The rice water weevil was recognized as an important invasive pest immediately after its discovery in mainland China because of the severe rice yield losses. The adults feed on the upper leaf surfaces producing longitudinal scars. Larval feeding on roots causes stunted growth, yellowing of the leaves (chlorosis) and plants that are easily uprooted, resulting in few tillers and low grain yield. In mainland China yield losses typically exceeded 10% in the established paddies, but approached over 80% in newly infested areas.”

“Insecticides provide the most effective means of controlling the weevil in China as they do in the United States and Japan.”

Authors: Chen, H.¹, Z. Chen² and Y. Zhou²
Affiliation: ¹ Department of Biology, SUNY-Buffalo; ² Plant Quarantine Institute, Beijing, China
Title: Rice water weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in mainland China: Invasion, spread and control.
Publication: Crop Protection. 2005. 24:695-702.

Organic Rice Growing Reduced Average Yield of Rice in Texas

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Eight percent of the rice acreage in Texas is managed organically. These organic acres have much lower yields than conventionally grown acres. As a result, the overall yield of rice in Texas has declined.

“Organic rice acreage accounted for ca. 8% of the state’s total rice production. Organic rice fields typically yield ca. 30-40% of conventional commercial yields, this brought down the statewide average rice yields. An organic rice crop that yields 40% of the yield of a conventionally [grown] crop is equal to a 60% yield decrease. Multiplying a 60% yield decrease by 8% of the acreage is equal to a 5% drop in the average yield per acre.”

Author: L.T. Wilson
Affiliation: Texas A&M University
Title: From the Editor… Changes in Texas Rice Production
Publication: Texas Rice. 2007. Winter:2.

Guyana’s Economy Boosted by Using Herbicides in Rice Fields

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Guyana stands alone in the world in terms of the proportion of rice that they export – 65%! Rice is the highest agricultural foreign exchange earner for Guyana. In order to maximize rice yields, rice growers in Guyana rely on herbicides to control weeds.

“Guyana’s rice industry for 2008 has exported US$118M, which represents the highest earnings ever for the sector. … Rice continues to make significant strides as a socioeconomic crop in Guyana. From a very small and quite subsistence beginning, it has grown today to one of the pillars of Guyana’s economy.”

“Weed control continued to play a major role in maximizing rice yields during 2008. … Despite the use of preventative measures and cultural practices that normally reduce weed infestation, surviving populations of the major rice weeds were significant enough to warrant the use of chemical control measures in order to maximize grain yield.”

Authors: Jagnanne Singh and Dindyal Permaul
Affiliation: Guyana Rice Development Board
Title: Guyana Rice Development Board Annual Report 2008.
Available at: http://grdb.gy/templates/GRDB/images/GRDB%20Annual%20Report%202008.pdf

Better Pesticides Contributed Greatly to Increased Rice Yields in Arkansas

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Arkansas is the leading rice-producing state in the US. The average yield of Arkansas rice has steadily increased over the past twenty years. The introduction of new pesticide products, e.g., an herbicide that selectively removes weedy red rice from commercial rice without harming the crop, has played a major role in this increased yield.

“During the past 20 years, the state-average yields in Arkansas have increased approximately 1780 lb/acre (about 40 bu/acre) or 2 bu/acre/year. This increase can be attributed to improved varieties and improved management, including such things as better herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides, improved water management through precision leveling and multiple inlet poly-pipe irrigation, improved fertilizer efficiency, and increased understanding of other practices such as seeding dates and tillage practices.”

Authors: C.E. Wilson, Jr., S.K. Runsick and R. Mazzanti
Affiliation: University of Arkansas at Monticello
Title: Trends in Arkansas Rice Production.
Publication: AAES Research Series 581. B.R. Wells Rice Research Studies 2009.

Herbicides Eliminated Inhumane Drudgery of Weeding Rice

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For centuries, rice fields in Japan were weeded by millions of people who spent their summers in the hot, humid, muddy fields working in a stooped position that could cause permanent back pain and damage. Herbicides freed people from this drudgery…

“For a long time before 1949, all weeding in rice fields had to be done by man-power. It was so severe and cruel labor for farmers. Modernized weeding, that is with the use of herbicides, has saved them from these physical and mental pains.”

“Herbicide has brought a great benefit to rice cultivation… in liberation from the inhumane physical and mental pains of farmers during serious weeding labor in hot, humid and muddy paddy fields. …for the ‘perfect’ hand weeding we need 506 hours/hectare, which can be calculated as the work of 1.89 million people every day for 60 days in summer all over Japan. It is not practical in the present status in this country.”

Author: Shooichi Matsunaka
Affiliation: Former President of the International Weed Science Society
Title: Historical review of rice herbicides in Japan
Publication: Weed Biology and Management. 2001. 1:10-14.