Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 768 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 195 ­ – Rice R&D 2016 Flush and fill-up The bays were flushed before fill-up. Each bay took approximately 12 hours to get the water on and off. The grower said the soil should dry out but not enough to walk on it after the first flush. Fill-up was within 10 days of flushing, depending on the weather. Directly filling up with permanent water has been tried but experience shows that rice establishment is greatly improved by including a flush before fill-up. Weed control The grower was not worried about the flush resulting in weeds germinating because he had confidence in his herbicide program. He used two herbicide modes of action for barnyard grass (molinate and Saturn®) and for dirty Dora (Saturn and Londax®). The broadleaf weeds were controlled with Taipan®. Taipan, molinate and Lorsban® were applied within 10 days of filling the paddock when the rice was just starting to germinate. This was followed with Saturn, Londax® and the insecticide Dominex Duo®, 13 days later. Water levels The water level was kept as low as possible during the season so the plant stayed short and the developing panicle was close to the soil surface. This meant that when the water level was increased to 25–30 cm after panicle initiation, the developing panicle was under water and insulated from the cold. The water level was monitored using a depth peg. NIR sampling At panicle initiation, the grower did his own NIR sampling. Sampling provides him an opportunity to get out into the crop to see how it is going, as well as helping determine nitrogen topdressing rates. Before PI, the grower had an NDVI image taken by satellite and used the image to select six places in the crop to sample, to make three composite samples. When the NIR test results were received the grower decided on a topdressing rate that was within the range of recommendations for the three samples. He doesn’t top dress at variable rates because of the difficulty of doing so by plane. Drainage and harvest The crop was drained 21 March when there were 5–10% milky grains. It was harvested 12 April with a John Deere 9750 rotary header with a 25-foot draper front. The crop was uniform and delivered at 20% moisture. The total water use of the rice crop was 12.7 ML/ha. Benefits of R&D and grower innovation Rice growing has seen many changes since 1924, and particularly since the 1950s. Research, development and grower innovation have resulted in improved varieties, better irrigation layouts, new chemical and fertiliser products, and matching of management and inputs to soils and paddocks, which have enabled incremental steps in yield over time. On the farm that grew 15.1 t/ha of rice in the 2015–16 season, a combination of suitable soil type, layout and management (including sowing within the recommended planting window), high water levels after panicle initiation, accurate fertiliser rates and weed-free crops resulted in an outstanding yield. Rice Extension will continue to investigate the factors that most influence high yields throughout the rice growing areas. High yields are a large factor contributing to good water use efficiency, i.e. getting the most tonnes of crop out of every megalitre of water. Rice Extension acknowledges that many growers follow the latest crop production recommendations, have similar rice growing practices to those outlined in this report and produce the best yields that their land and business can achieve. RIRDC Project PRJ-009296 Rice Extension Coordination Acknowledgment Thank you to the grower of the 15.1 t/ha crop for sharing the information used in this report. More information Gae Plunkett Rice Industry Extension Coordinator, Leeton M: 0419 790 019 E: [email protected] Table 1. Crop operations and inputs Date Operation Input (per ha) Prior to sowing Disc Scarify Grader board Re-form banks Broadcast starter fertiliser 150–225 kg/ha Rice Energiser Broadcast urea 250–315 kg/ha urea 22 Oct Broadcast seed 160 kg/ha Reiziq 5 L/t liquid seed dressing Ridge roll Flush and fill 31 Oct Contract aerial spray 3 L/ha molinate 2 L/ha Taipan 150 mL/ha Lorsban 12 Nov Contract aerial spray 3 L/ha Saturn 150 g/ha Londax 150 mL/ha Dominex Duo End Dec NDVI image, PI cuts and NIR tissue tests 6 Jan Contract aerial topdress 200 kg/ha urea Drain 12 Apr Harvest