Basmati planting and the art of growing rice

Basmati Farming Practices at a Glance

Seed Selection

• Farmers procure seeds from the trusted sources – government agencies, agricultural universities and Research centers
• Seed required for 1 acre of the cultivation is 5-8kg approximately

Treatment of Seed

• 1kg salt is diluted in 10 litres of water to prepare solution for treatment of the seed
• After this 8 to 10 kg of seeds poured in this solution, in this way quality seeds are drowned within the solution and seeds which float on the upper surface are thrown as waste
• The left seeds are washed with the water for 3 to 4 times so that the salt is completely washed out
• The seeds, then are kept in the solution of 10 litres of water, 5 grams Emison and 2.5 grams of Agromycin or 1 gram of streptomycin for 24 hours
• After this the seeds are spread in a small area with wet sacks on the seeds to germinate and sacks are continuously watered or regular intervals

Nursery
To prepare a Nursery for a desired area for cultivation of Basmati Paddy, the sprouted seeds in the proportionate quantity are sprinkled within ½ or 1 acre or even bigger area as per the requirement and are left for 30 to 40 days’ time before the transplantation to the area of Cultivation.

Field Preparation
Preparation by mechanical mans for easy transplanting.

Transplantation

• Ideal Time of Transplantation – 1^st fortnight of July.
• Transplantation of seeds 25 to 30 days, 1 to 2 seeds per hill
• 32 seeds per meter
• Distance between the two plants should be 6 inches or 15 cms
• Distance between the rows 9 inches or 20 cms
• To strengthen the roots, the water is filled within the field for a span of 6 to 10 days to a height of 4-5 cms

Weed Cleaning

• During the II or III week of August weeds are cleared
• During the month of August there is a chance of outbreak of diseases like Blast and Brown Spot in the crop
• If the symptoms of the diseases are seen, it should be treated during September

Top Dressing

• Basmati varieties require low to moderate fertilizer quantity, specially nitrogen to avoid excessive vegetative growth

Irrigation
Timely & proper, but low quantity of water during specific growth period is required.

Pruning
Cutting of flag leaf at 10 cm from “Upper most leaf collar” to reduce the plant height and prevent it from lodging without affecting the yield.

Drainage
Removal of water from the field 15 days prior to harvesting is mandatory to get higher yield and good quality.

Harvesting & Threshing
Manual harvesting of golden color crop at 20% moisture at 35 days after 50% flowering to get maximum grain yield & head rice recovery. Every step is carefully undertaken to help produce the finest & highest quality Basmati.