|Better Farming Series 21. Wet Paddy or Swamp Rice (FAO, 1977, 40 p.)|
|Taking care of the rice field|
30. Why must weeds be removed?
Weeds take mineral salts out of the soil, so the rice cannot use them and will be undernourished. Weeds get in the way of harvesting. Weeds prevent the rice from growing and tillering well.
What does tillering mean? We say the rice tillers when It develop several stems on the same plant. The buds at the bottom of the stem develop and make new stems.
After tillering, each grain you have sown will have several stems, and every stem makes a panicle (or head) of rice. But weeds prevent tillering.
31. When to weed.
If you have flooded your field before transplanting, no weeds will have grown. But when you transplant, you drain the water away, and then the weeds can grow.
Weed 2 weeks after transplanting. Pull the weeds out by hand.
Later more weeds will have grown. You must weed again.
Every time when weeds have grown, you must pull them out.
This means a lot of work, but costs no money. Rice grows much better in a field without weeds, and you will get a much bigger yield.