1. Nursery Management Techniques in Rice

2. Wet-bed Method Dry-bed Method Dapog Method Modified Dapog Method
Nursery is the place where raise seedlings with special care until transplanting
There are 5 rice nursery systems,
Wet-bed Method
Dry-bed Method
Dapog Method
Modified Dapog Method
Parachute Method
The choice of a particular nursery system depends on the availability of water labour, land and agricultural implements.

3. Wet-bed method Widely used in areas where water is abundant
Conserves seeds.
Makes the most economical use of seed in producing seedlings.

4. Rate of seeding=100g/sqm of seeds
Preparing the wet-bed
Compute for the area required for constructing a seed bed.
Rate of seeding=100g/sqm of seeds
Each seed bed should be about 1.5m wide
Select the location
Conveniently located for irrigation and drainage
Prepare the land
30 to 35 days before planting
Regulate water level
Leveling the soil
Measure area of seed bed

5. Should be about 4 to 5cm above the original soil level
Raise seed bed level
Should be about 4 to 5cm above the original soil level
Smooth the surface of the seed bed
Sowing the seeds
Pregerminated for 24 hours
Broadcast evenly

6. Care of wet-bed seed bed
Protect seedlings from lack of water
During the first week , add just enough water to saturate the soil
After irrigate the seed bed gradually and continuously
It help to control the weeds
Protect seedling from insects and animals
Every 7 days spray Sevin 85 WP (1 level table spoon per 10 liter of water)
Fence the seed bed
Protect seedling from nitrogen deficiency

7. Pulling of seedlings
Ready for transplanting from 20 to 25 days after sowing
Flood the seed bed a day before pulling
Wash the soil from roots and bundle the seedlings in to convenient sizes

8. Advantages Disadvantages
Less seeds are required per unit area to be transplanted
Disadvantages
Requires land area for seedbed
Preparation of seedbed , care of seedbed and pulling seedlings are laborious
Seeds are easily carried away by raindrops

9. Dry-bed Method
Practices in areas where water is not sufficient to warrant use of the wet-bed
Bed is prepared dry

10. Plow the field twice and harrow two or three times
Dry- bed Method cont…..
Plow the field twice and harrow two or three times
Addition of decomposed organic matter and/or partially burned rice straw or rice husks
Construct raised beds
1 to 1.5m width and of a convenient length
If seedbed soil is poor , apply 60 to 100g of nitrogen/ sq m seedbed
Pregerminated seeds sow evenly over the bed
Cover with fine soil by hand
One cavan (44 kg) of seed sufficient to transplant a hectare of land

11. At the time of seeding , broadcast diazinon on the seedbed
Dry-bed Method cont….
At the time of seeding , broadcast diazinon on the seedbed
(3g of active ingredient of diazinon per 10 sq m of seedbed)
The beds should be watered thoroughly immediately after planting and twice every day thereafter.
Soak the bed – well
If irrigation water is available, water can be sent along the channels and splashed onto the beds
otherwise, water must be carried in by hand
20 to 30 days after sowing pull the seedlings
Keep the seedbed moist during pulling
Pulling of seedlings is much easier than in the wet-bed method

12. Advantages Disadvantages Seedlings develop excellent root
Seedlings easy to uproot
Beds can be made near the farmer's house
Disadvantages
Will not grow as fast as wet bed seedlings
If the beds dry out for even one day, the growth of the seedling may be seriously impaired.

13. Dapog Method Most commonly used Used in places where water is abundant
Can be located anywhere convenient, as long as it is near a reliable water supply

14. Preparing the seedbed Compute area required Prepare the land
1sq m of seedbed/3kg of seed
Width is taken at 1.5m
Prepare the land
Usually one plowing followed by one harrowing
Regulate water level
Must be enough water to cover the soil surface
Raise seedbed level
Cover the soil of seedbed
Use banana leaves with midribs removed.
Spread the leaves with the underside up.
Leaves should overlap each other and should have no holes.

15. Pregerminated for 36 to 48 hours
Surrounded the seedbed with banana bracts.
Sowing seeds
Scatter the pregerminated seeds over the banana leaf enclosure
Pregerminated for 36 to 48 hours
Pack the seeds to make a uniform layer-3 seeds thick
Use a leveling woodboard to press the seeds
Water the seeds

16. Prepare seedlings for transplanting
Care of seedbed
Protect seedlings from lack of water
Maintain an even germination
Lightly press the seeds once a day until the fourth day.
Protect seedlings from insect, pest and animals
Prepare seedlings for transplanting
Loosen and roll the seedbed in to a convenient bundle
Bring roll of seedlings to the field to be planted
In some areas small concrete floors are used as the seedbed of the dapog seedlings

17. Advantages: Disadvantages Area required for seedbed is reduced
Seedlings are raised faster
Seedlings recover faster after transplanting
Expense in removing seedling from seedbed is less
Disadvantages
A larger quantity of seeds is required
Seedlings are short
Requires more precise water management

18. Modified Dapog Method Use good quality seeds(12-25kg/ha)
Use pregerminated seeds
Soak seeds 24 hours and drain the water
Keep the seeds moist by covering another 24 hours
Prepare the soil mix
Mix 7 parts of soil :2 parts well decomposed chicken manure:1 part fresh rice hull
Prepare the nursery area(100sqm nursery/1ha)
Select level area
Level the seedbed
Spread banana leaves or plastic sheeting

19. Sow the pregerminated seeds uniformly
Modified Dapog Method cont….
Lay the soil mixture
With or with out using a wooden frame
Instead of that can use banana stalks
Sow the pregerminated seeds uniformly
Cover the nursery with banana leaves or plastic sheeting
Water the nursery twice a day for 5 days
Five days after seeding , remove the cover
Flood the nursery
Maintain 1 cm water level around the mats

20. Modified Dapog Method cont….
Drain the water 2 days before removing the seedling mats for transplanting
After 7 days seedlings show yellowing , Sprinkling the seedlings with 0.5% urea solution
About 12 to 15 days after seeding pull the seedlings gently and transport to the field
Modified Rice Mat Nursery Lifting seedling mat

21. Parachute Method Practicing in puddled and unpuddled soils.
Flexible plastic bubble-sheets are used(59 cm in length and 33 cm width)
Trays have 434 plugs
Requires 400 plastic trays to raise seedlings for one hectare
seed the soil plugs with one or two seeds and cover them with a thin layer of sieved soil.
In initial stages watered with a sprinkler frequently

22. Plastic tray seedbed preparation
Seedlings in plastic trays ready for
transplantation.

23. Parachute Method cont….
The nursery take days to attain a height of about 20 cm before transplanting.
Parachuting of the young rice seedlings is done both manually and by using mechanical blowers.
With manual broadcasting, a labor simply tosses few seedling-plugs up into the air.
Seedlings removed and broadcasted in a projectile manner into irrigated fields.

24. Advantages
Quick and economical for the large land holdings.
Considerable quantity of water (60%) is saved
Saving of 60–70% in labor costs as compared to the conventional method.
Uprooting of nursery from the plugs on plastic trays is very easy.
Results in higher crop yields and net income as compared with the traditional method.

25. Thank you