1. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
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2. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Introduction
Tillage is the physical manipulation of soil with tools and implements to result in good tilth for better germination and subsequent growth of rice crop. Tillage is required for seed bed preparation, weed control and soil and water conservation.
Improvements in soil structure, soil permeability, soil aeration etc are the main objectives of tillage in rice crop under Integrated Nutrient Management
Proper tillage results in higher infiltration and reduced run-off with increased depth of soil for moisture storage.
Summer deep ploughing improves soil structure due to alternate drying and cooling. Organic matter decomposition is hastened resulting in higher nutrient availability.
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3. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Land leveling:
Leveling rice fields improves water use efficiency, increases grain yield, and improves grain quality
Leveling land improves water coverage which:
Reduces the amount of water required for land preparation
Reduces the amount of water required for land preparation
Improves crop establishment
Decreases the time to complete tasks
Results in better crop stands
Reduces weed problems, and
Results in uniform crop maturity.
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4. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Systems of land leveling
1. Draft animals and 2-wheel tractors using harrows
and leveling boards:
These leveling techniques require total in field water coverage and require 7 to 8 days for a 2-wheeled tractor and 12 days per ha using draft animals.
2. Four-wheel tractor using rear mounted tractor blades or drag buckets:
In wet fields a rear-mounted tractor blade is best and in dry fields a hydraulically operated drag bucket is superior. Work rates depend on the tractor size and the amount of soil to be moved.
It will take approximately 8 hours to level 1 ha with a rear mounted tractor blade. This reduced to about 4 hours when using a drag bucket.
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5. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Systems of land leveling
Land leveling by bullocks under wet cultivation of rice (
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6. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Systems of land leveling
3. Four-wheel tractor with a laser controlled bucket:
The use of laser controlled equipment results in a much more level field.
The objectives of laser land levelling are: to make field more level and smooth soil surface, reduction in time and water required to irrigate the field, more uniform moisture environment for crops, reduced consumption of seeds, fertilizers, chemicals and fuel, and improved field trafficability (for subsequent operations).
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7. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Systems of land leveling
Laser guided land levelling
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8. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Tillage operations under different methods of rice cultivation
Tillage operations would depend upon method of rice cultivation
In India Rice is mainly grown in two types of soils i.e.,
(i) uplands and (ii) lowlands.
The method of cultivation of rice in a particular region depends largely on factors such as situation of land, type of soils, irrigation facilities, availability of labourers intensity and distribution of rainfalls.
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9. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Tillage operations under different methods of rice cultivation
The crop of rice is grown with the following methods in India:
Dry or semi-dry upland cultivation
Broadcasting the seed
Sowing the seed behind the plough or drilling.
Wet or lowland cultivation
Transplanting in puddled fields.
Broadcasting sprouted seeds in puddled fields.
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10. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Tillage under dry cultivation
Dry system of rice cultivation is followed in upalnds. Upland rice is grown on both level and slopy fields that are not bunded and are prepared and seeded dry and the crop depends upon rainfall for its water requirement.
After getting the requisite puddle, rice seedlings are tansplanted or sprouted seeds are direct seeded. The seedlings of rice are grown in nursery before transplanting. Puddling is very important operation in transplanted rice.
One deep ploughing followed by two-three ploughings by desi plough, cultivator or harrow are performed to get the seed bed ready for sowing.
The last ploughing should be followed by planking.
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11. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Tillage under dry cultivation
Dry cultivation of rice
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12. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Tillage under wet cultivation
The conventional rice cultivation is a wet system of cultivation and rice is grown under wet season right from the start. In this system the field is brought to a soil puddle by repeated ploughing with 5-7 cm standing water.
Three methods are commonly followed in sowing dry
and semi-dry crop.
Puddling can be defined as softening (by various operations) of the top soil layer before transplanting, at the same time leveling the soil surface and destroying weeds, while maintaining a low permeability of the sub-soil (to reduce percolation losses).
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13. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Tillage under wet cultivation
If necessary the field is flooded with 5 to 10 cm water a day before puddling and then plough the field twice or thrice. Before puddling, an earthen bund of about 30 cm high should be made around the field.
Puddling can to be done with country plough, harrow, cultivator or a puddler. Depending upon soil condition and weed growth two to three ploughing is required to make the field ready for transplanting.
By puddling ,weeds and crop residues are incorporated into the soil. It provides ease of transplanting as soil becomes muddy. Puddling retains the water for longer time and thus, reduces percolatory losses of water.
It destructs the native soil structure by repeated ploughing which is desirable for paddy crop. Puddling also helps in the accumulation of ammonia, P, Si, Fe and Mn. It helps to kill the weeds and buries them in puddled layer.
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14. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice Puddling by a mechanical puddler
Tillage under wet cultivation
Puddling by country plough (
Puddling by a mechanical puddler
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15. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Conservation tillage
Tillage is an important and primary tool for conservation of the land.
As per definition, its primary purpose is to provide a favorable soil environment for the plant growth which is indirectly related to the soil conservation.
The effect of tillage on soil erosion is the function of its several effects on soil such as aggregation, surface sealing infiltration and resistant to erosion, destruction of soil structure either by excessive tillage or tillage operations at improper soil moisture condition tends to increase the soil erodibility, causing significant soil loss.
Tillage is an important and primary tool for conservation of the land.
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16. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Conservation tillage
Conservation tillage refers to various practices that provide better protection for the soil.
These practices include stubble mulching (maintenance of residue cover with mechanical weed control), minimum tillage (using a mixture of herbicide and mechanical weed control) and zero-tillage (soil disturbance occurs only at planting).
Zero or minimal tillage systems are optimal in terms of productivity and sustainability for most grain cropping.
Equipment options for tillage
Primary tillage options – Ploughs (Mould board, Disc, Tine, Offset)
Secondary tillage options – Disc Harrow, Offset Disc, Rotavator, Puddler, Landplane.
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17. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Let us sum up
Rice is cultivated by different methods. Broadly, rice cultivation methods can be divided into two: dry and wet cultivation.
Under dry cultivation first ploughing (primary tillage) is done by a deep turning plough, followed by two-three harrowings and planking. There should be enough moisture in the soil at the time of sowing under dry cultivation.
In wet cultivation, puddling is carried out in standing water to prepare a soft bed for transplanting, control weeds and reduce percolation losses of water.
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18. Tillage Practices under INM in Rice
Let us sum up
Primary tillage implements could be ploughs (mould board, disc, tine, offset) and secondary tillage implements could be disc Harrow, offset disc, rotavator, and puddler etc.
Conservation tillage practices include stubble mulching (maintenance of residue cover with mechanical weed control), minimum tillage (using a mixture of herbicide and mechanical weed control) and zero-tillage (soil disturbance occurs only at planting).
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