Caring for the Winter-Spring Rice Crop to Ensure Large, Firm Grains

The winter-spring rice crop is approaching, and many farmers are busy preparing for a successful harvest. To achieve high yields and superior quality, proper care of the rice plants from the early stages of the season until the panicles emerge is crucial. Let’s explore the secrets to caring for healthy rice plants, ensuring large panicles, firm grains, and a bountiful harvest.

1. Why should you fertilize rice during the heading stage?

The panicle initiation stage is one of the most important phases in the development of a rice plant. This is when the rice plant begins to form and develop its panicles, directly determining the yield and quality of the rice grains later on.

Determining the right time and applying just the right amount of fertilizer during the panicle initiation stage will help ensure the highest number of grains per panicle, resulting in larger panicles, maintaining a healthy green foliage, increasing the number of plump grains, reducing lodging, minimizing ineffective tillers, and limiting the outbreak of pests and diseases.

Fertilizing rice during the panicle initiation stage is a crucial step that determines the yield and quality of the crop. This is the time when the rice plant enters the reproductive stage, requiring essential nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) to develop large, long, and strong panicles.

Fertilizers help rice plants absorb sufficient nutrients, increase their resistance to pests, diseases, and adverse weather conditions, and reduce the percentage of empty grains, resulting in bright, plump grains and high yields. Proper and timely fertilization not only promotes overall plant development but also optimizes cultivation costs, bringing high economic efficiency to farmers.

2. How to determine the optimal time for panicle fertilization in rice.

• Based on the growth period of the variety and the number of days after sowing.

Although the growth and development time of rice plants varies depending on the variety, all rice varieties have two equivalent stages: the time from tillering to heading is about 25 days, and the time from heading to ripening also lasts 25-30 days (varieties with large panicles and large thousand-grain weight ripen more slowly). Therefore, the timing of fertilization is determined by subtracting 50-55 days from the rice plant’s growth time.

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• Based on the morphology of the rice plant

Several characteristics can be observed (rice transitioning from vegetative to reproductive growth): The rice plant undergoes distinct changes such as becoming round and clump-like, with a stiff stem, upright leaves, compact leaf tips, equal leaf necks, a constriction near the leaf tip, and the rice field turning a lemon-yellow color.

To ensure the rice plants turn a lemon-yellow color at the time of panicle initiation fertilization, when they are 32-35 days old after sowing (for short-day rice varieties) or when the rice plants have an average of 7-8 tillers per clump, drain the water to limit ineffective tillering and help the rice plants enter a standing state for better photosynthesis and reduced pest and disease incidence.

• Based on the panicle state (check by peeling the panicle).

When you peel back the main tiller of the rice plant and see that it has 2.5 nodes and the panicle is 1-2mm long (like a cockroach’s droppings panicle), applying fertilizer at this stage is the most accurate.

3. Rice plant care procedures during the heading stage

During the heading stage, the amount of potassium applied to rice plants should account for 70% of the recommended amount, while the amount of nitrogen should only be 30%, according to the rice cultivation process.

Potassium is needed in high amounts during the panicle initiation stage because it helps rice plants enhance photosynthesis, synthesizing nutrients from the stem to nourish the panicles. Nitrogen, on the other hand, helps increase the number of flowers and panicles.

Farmers can refer to the rice fertilization process based on the formula of the specialized fertilizer solution set from Viet Nga, which is widely used by many farmers, as shown below.

In addition, farmers should apply fertilizer when the weather is cool and shady, after rain or watering, so that the rice plants can easily absorb the nutrients.

Conclusion

Focusing on rice cultivation during the Winter-Spring season not only ensures high yields but also brings sustainable economic value. With the support of effective nutritional solutions like Viet Nga Fertilizer, farmers will have greater confidence in achieving brilliant harvests. We wish you a successful Winter-Spring crop!

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