Preparing field and pest control for paddy

The preparation of field,and pest control


Soiltesting

Based on pH, major types
1.Highly acidic pH below 6.5.Best for paddy cultivation between 5-6.5.yield poor if below 5 .Alluvial,sandy clay,clayey soil suitable for it.
2.Medium type between 6.5-7.5
3.Alkaline 7.9 and above.
The classification in Rasi,pasimarasi etc given in old texts was for this purpose.(see previous chapters for details of the ancient classification of soil)


Seasons in Tamil Nadu with variations in different districts .
Swarnavari in summer April 15-August 14 (Mesha 1st or Vishuvam to Simha 1st)
Samba(Champav) July 15-January 14(Karkitaka 1 to Makaram 1 )
Late Sambha or Thaladi September 15-January 14th (kanni 1st to Makaram 1st)
Navarai December 15th –March 30(Dhanu 1st to Meenam 30 )
Kuruvai june 1-August 31.(Rishabha 15th to Simha 15th)
Varity vary with district.

Organic manure
1Farmyard manure
All nutrients required for plants present in this and it remain for longer periods in soil giving good results.
Cowdung 5-7 tonnes/acre
Goat dung 5 ton/acre
Poultry waste 2 ton/acre
Pig dung 1 ton/acre
Applied as basal manure during last plough.Farmyard manure is allowed to decay and then used.Applied and ploughed into soil the same day.
2 Biofertilisers
Atmosphere has 78 % nitrogen.Soil bacteria fix it and convert it so that plants can absorb it from soil.These are acetobacter,azospirillum,phosphobacteria.Instead of using them directly one can cultivate leguminous plants in field so that their roots do the same function.
Another method of growing algae ,azolla (a floating fern)with paddy is suggested with paddy as intercrop.These also provides nitrogen.But ancients used water lily for the same purpose and that is better than using cyanobacteria like blue gren algae or ferns .The overgrowth of the African plants in Malabar area is a example of uncontrollable growth of such plants.
3.Amrithakaraisal is an extract prepared easily.
Fresh cowdung 10 kg
Cows urine 10 liter
Jaggery 1 kg
Water 100 liters
Added to a cement tank and mixed well.Extract is ready for use next day.500 Liters needed for one acre crop.Mix with water for irrigation and can be used as spray (for which 10 liters are needed).
4 Green manure:-
Crops cultivated in field before the main crop.They are ploughed into soil before flowering stage and used as manure.Essential for paddy.Leguminosae family is used for this.
Crotalaria juncea or sun hemp
Sesbania cannabina or Dainchaa
Sesbania speciosa or sesbania
Tephrosia purpurea or wild indigo
Indigofera tinctoria or Indian indigo
Tephrosia noctiflora

5 Green leaf manure
Albizia lebbeck(sirisha tree)
Calotropis gigantean(Gigantic swallow wort)
Cassia auriculata(tanner’s cassia)

Azadirachta indica(common neem or vep)
Gliricidia sepium(spotted variety)
Pongamia pinnata(Indian beech)
Morinda pubescens(Muringa)
Delonix elata(white gulmohar)

The leaves used as manure as well as in preparation of biopepticides.
6.Oil seed cake.
The pith left over after oil extraction is a source of nitrogen .Groundnut cakes,neem seed cakes,castor seed cakes are used.For paddy neem and groundnut cakes are used.This gives organic nitrogen for paddy growth.
Cake Basal manure Top dressing
Neemseed cake 60 kg/acre 25 kg/acre
Groundnut cake 40 kg/acre 25 kg/acre

7.Crop Rotation In South Arcot District ,North Arcot ,Chengalpet, banana,sugarcane and betel are alternative crops for paddy.Sesbania is a intermediate crop between two paddy crops .
Three varieties are sown in three seasons .

Samba (July –Jan) Navarai(Dec –March) Swarnavari(April-August)
Paddy Blackgram Sesame
Paddy Groundnut Paddy
Paddy Cotton -
Paddy Vegetables Green manure crops (for seeds)

The nutrients used by first crop is replaced by following crop and nutrient requirement of second crop is different .This maintains nutrient balance of soil.
8 Panchagavya
Every temple going person might have heard of Panchagavya as the 5 sacred products from cow .It was prepared in temples and given to farmers for use in the common fields .
Preparation was as follows.
Cowdung 5 Kg
Cows urine 3 liters
Ghee 1 liter
Cows milk 2 liters
Curd 2 liters
Other ingredients added to this:-
Tender coconut 3 liters
Cane juice or jaggery 3 liters or 1 kg
Yellow plantain 12 numbers or honey ½ kg
Cowdung,urine and ghee mixed in a cement tank(30 liter capacity) for one week with stirring in morning and evening ,release methane gas.To this mixture add milk,curd,tender coconut ,ripe yellow plantain,and jaggery.After a weeks time filter and use extract.
3 % is sprayed during tillering and bootling stage for coarse varieties to increase yield.For thin varieties 3 % sparayed once during bootling stage.During flowering stage 10 % buttermilk extract or 3 % tender coconut is sprayed.This help uniform flowering and increase yield.

Composting techniques:-
Land selected should not be low lying or waterlogged.
Upland elevated land that has shade is ideal for compost preparation.
Soil should not be sandy
Soil where compost is prepared should not be penetrated by roots of trees.
Plastic products,polythene ,bones of cattle,stones,thick stems of plants and glass bottle pieces to be avoided.
Types of compost are
Biodung compost
Cycle method
Vermicompost
Compost is done in pits,concrete tanks,well rings,wooden or plastic crates appropriate for the given situation and need.

Water management:
Water should stagnate in rice field.2 cm of water should stagnate in field during transplantation.From 10th day of transplantation to the day of maturity ,3 cm of water should stagnate.There should be no water shortage during tillering,flowering and milky stage.Top dressing should not be done in marshy fields where there is water stagnation.The water should be drained and land allowed to dry before adding the manure.The field should be irrigated immeadiately after manuring.

Pests of paddy are leaf eating insects and caterpillars ,sap feeders,and stem borers.

Leaf eating insects;-
1leaf folder.Cnaphalocrocis medinalis .Lepidoptera .Abrownish orange moth that lay eggs on upper surface of leaves.
Symptoms are rolling of leaves,eggs and larvae seen in the folded leaf blades,the crop has sickly appearance with white patces in severely affected fields.Longitudinal white streaks on leaf blade seen.Leaves loose chlorophyll .ETL or economic threshold level management should start immeadiately when more than 10 leaves are damaged.
3-5 % Andrographis paniculata kashaayam
Garlic,ginger,chilli extract
5% neem kernel extract spray
Are the control measures
2.Rice case worm Nymphula depunctalis .Lepidoptera.
Small moth with white wing.Symptoms as caterpillar cuts leaves into small pieces and rolls longitudinally into box-like structure.Damaged leaves hang as longitudinal rolls at tips of leaf.Some seen floating on surface of water.The larvae seen inside cut leafrolls hence called case worms.ETL when more than 10 leaves damaged .Management by rope method
3 Green horned caterpillar Melanitis leda ismene .Lepidoptera.
A butterfly dark brown with black and yelloe eye markings.
Larvae attack plants in seedling stage and during tillering stage.They attack as a group and affect growth
4.Yellow hairy caterpillar Psalis pennatula .Lepidoptera
Yellow colour.orange head.Red stripes and hairs all over body.Silky pupae.Infest during growth and when the earhead forms.Leaves damaged,growth affected.
ETL when more than 10 leaves affected.
5.Army worm Spodoptera litura .Lepidoptera
Adult moth is dark brown with conspicuous black spot on forewing.Larvae attack leaves at night and eat them completely leaving midribs.The crop has a look of a field grazed with cattle.ETL when more than 10 leaves affected.
6 Skipper Philopidus mathyas .Lepidoptera.
Leaves longitudinally folded.The leaves become skeletal .
10 kg neemcake as basal manure /acre of transplanted field prevent entry of caterpillar into field.
Neem leaves in a bunch at different places in field also keep away them.
Wood ash controls the caterpillars.For one acre 10-12 kg mixed with sand is strewn in field.This is low cost technology followed even by small scale farmers
Field is flooded and then drained .By this,all larve and pupa hiding in soil is exposed and removed.
7 Gall Midge Orseolia oryzae .Diptera.
Adult fly is yellow .It lays 100-200 elongated eggs on undersurface of leaves..Yellow maggots turn to brown pupae .
Terminal portion of crop turns into tubular gall.If severe,growth affected.Tubular galls resembling onion leaves are found.The larvae and adults suck sap and insert poisonous substance called sesitogen into leaves.The rolling of leaf to shape of elephant trunk happen .ETL when more than 10 % of earheads are infested.
8 Short horned grasshopper
Hieroglyphus banaian .Arthroptera.
Green colour.The leaves damaged.Nibble the tender florets and grains.Earheads turn white even before they emerge.
Spreading Calotropis leaves besides the bunds of the field prevents entry of grasshoppers
Manage with a solution of cowdung or goat dung .30-50 kg of dung taken in gunny bag and that bag is balanced on a pole .Below it a drum filled with 100-200 liters water is kept.Tip of gunny bag is touching the surface of water.The gunny bag is shaken twice a day for 15 days.After 15 days the water in drum is brown and a foul smell will emerge.This is diluted with twice the amount of water and sprayed.This is a repellent for grasshoppers.
The sap feeders:-
1 Green leaf hopper .Nephotettix virescens .Hemiptera.
Tip of leaf become yellow.The growth affected.They transmit the viral particles of Tungro virus.ETL when more than 5 adults are found per hill during growing stages .10/hill is the ETL for flowering stages.
Transplant seedlings after dipping in neem kernel extract for 24 hours to increase their resistance to pests.Neem oil and pongam oil is mixed in ratio of 1:4 and sprayed in field.
Wild grass and weeds removed from field bund and field since they are the favourite egglaying spots of pests.
2 Brown plant hopper
Nilaparvata lugens .Hemiptera.
Colour same as that of soil.Crops show burned apperence.Dries in patches.While walking across field ,hoppers can be seen flying.
Adults remain in basal part of crop and suck sap.The plants turn yellow and then dry up causing browning of leaves refered to as hopper burn.As they move from one plant to another they spill sap on other plants and reslts in spread of sooty mould fungus.Stem rot disease is seen in areas affected by plant hopper infestation.ETL if more than 15 pests per hill .A cloudy weather and closer spacing,heavy application of nitrogenous chemical fertilizers are favourable for rapid multiplication of the species.
Control measures are judicious use of nitrogenous fertilizers,avoidance of water stagnation ,light traps to monitor and attack adults,field and bund cleaning without weeds ,BPH control by sunlight allowed to enter the under part of plants by proper spacing.
3 mealy bug Heterococcus rehi .Hemiptera.
White stout adults.
Stunted crops and panicle formation affected.
Dry spells and drought favours the pest population.control measures are neem kernel extract spraying.
4 Ear head bug Leptocorisa acuta .Hemiptera.
Brown adults with long legs.Foul odour from fields is its presence.Infestation more in milky stage.The grains have brownish round dots.ETL if more than 5 pests per panicles .Control measure Cycas cercinalis flower (sannampoo)is cut and tied to a stick which is taller than crop level.Placed in 10-15 places in field.This prevents entry for about 2 weeks . By this time the milky stage is completed and crop attains maturity.IKg of Achryranthus aspera root and 1 kg neem bark is dried and powdered and mixed with water and sprayed.This is for 1 acre land
5 Black bug Scotinophora coarctata .Hemiptera.
Black colour
Blasts on leaf and leaf sheath.Chlorophil content in central part of leaf is eaten up.the leaves break and hang.The pest remains in tillers,leaves,and axils.The leaves turn yellow and crops are stunted.ETL when more than 5 beetles per hill or when more than 10 % leaves damaged/hill during tillering stage.Applying neem cake as top dressing control the entry of beetles.

Stem borers:-
1 yellow stem borer. Scirpophaga incertulas .Lepidoptera
Adult female moth is bright yellow forewing with black spot.Larva makes hole on undersurface of stem.White chaffy ears seen at irregular intervals all over field.When infested in early stages groth and tillering affected.
The growing tip is destroyed by boring into leaf sheath.This disrupt flow of water and nourishment to plant causing drying of central shoot.(cause white ears).Larva found inside central shoot.ETL when two egg masses or 2 % white ears /sq meter is seen.
Control by applying 42-50 kg neemcake as basal manure,Neemcake bags kept in irrigation channels,Pheromone traps to attract male adults,light traps,ploughing immeadiately after harvest to destroy eggs and pupae,seedlings planted with proper spacing.
As I write this (on 3rd Feb 2010 Mathrubhoomi daily I find a report that in a place in Palghat district ,near Srikrishnapuram in a field where the agricultural department had asked farmers to do crops out of season,when the plants grew the entire ears have turned white.This must be due to the problem of infestation of stem borer.The tips given above may be looked into and implemented before they start next crop).

Rodents:-
Rats feed on seeds sown in nursery and destroy seedlings .Cause damage in panicle initiation stage.Cut mature panicle and store grain in their holes.Also damage storage godown grains.
Take unripe papaya fruit.Cut into small pieces.Spread over the bunds.The chemical in it cause damage to rat’s mouth For 1 acre 4-5 fruits are enough.Ripe fruits should not be used.
Take 2-3 kg Ipomoea fistulos aand add 3-5 liters of water.Boil for ½ hour.Filter extract.Take 2-3 kg sorghm seeds and add the extract to it.Boil again for ½ hour.Spread these seeds in rat burrows.rats feeding on this will die.
Take mudpot and fill with straw .Sprinkle water over starw .Make a hole at bottom of pot.Invert over rathole near the bunds.Light the straw and cover the hole with mudpaste before smoke escapes.The smoke suffocate rats .
Spread screwpine trees bark and leaves over bunds of field.When rats try to cross bunds ,thorns spread on margin of leaves scratches the lower belly of rats and rats do not enter fields.Growing thorny bushes of pineapple in bund also has same effect.

FUNGAL DISEASES:-
1 Rice blast Pyricularia orizae is an airborne fungal disease.Small specks on leaves enlarge to spindleshaped spots of varying lengths with a whitish grey center and brown margin.Nodes and neck of panicle blacken lrading to breaking (neck blast)at point of infection.The affected panicle break due to weight of grain.Symptoms start from seedling stage upto 3rd week of harvest.The symptom can be seen on stem also.Black shaded region seen above and below the node.When infection happen during the milky stage the panicle gets poorly filled.
2.Rice brown leaf spot. By Helminthosporium oryzae
A seedborne fungal infection.Leaves show round or oval irregular brown spots which coalesce to form whithering of tissue.Avelvety growth seen on glumes.Brown or grey brown seen at neck region sometimes.Grains show red brown discolouration.Spots are like sesame seeds.Hence also called sesamum leafspot.
3.Sheath blight by Rhyzoctonia solani
Spreads through weeds and pathogens.First symptom seen on leaf sheath is appearance of greenish grey lesions.Later they turn to straw colour and increase in size which girdles the stem.The leaf blade dries up from tip downwards ,the grains shriveled and poorly filled.
4 stem rot by Leptospheria salvinii
Soilborne fungus.Disease appear after transplanting in the form of small black irregular lesions at waterline on the leaf sheath and stem.Such infected stem rots and falls down.Spikelets appearing in affected plants remain chaffy.Disease is more severe in fields where water remains stagnant and lack proper drainage facility.

Bacterial disease:-
Bacterial leafblight by Xanthomonas campestris p.v.oryzae
Seedborne bacterial disease .Yellow colour watersoaked lesions on both edge of leaves ,which later coalesce and entire surface turns into straw colour.The affected leave s roll completely ,droop and ultimately the tillers wither away .The symptoms appear 4-6 weeks after transplanting .Affected plants produce chaffy grains.High nitrogenous fertilizer favour blight epidemics especially where susceptible cultivas are grown.

Viral diseases :-
Tungro or leaf yellowing by Virus complex.
Spread through viral particles.Older leaves turn yellow orange starting from tips,spread downwards covering entire leaf .Young leaves mottled with dark brown blotch.Plants become stunted and bear poor panicles with empty glumes.Transmitted by green grass hopper .

Disease management:-
1.Take cows urine in a mudpot and allow it to ferment for one week.Spray this over the crop to control bacterial and fungal diseases.According to intensity of disease the quantity can be reduced from ½ liter to 1 liter per tank.
2.Mix one liter of cows urine with one liter buttermilk and 8 liter of water.Spray the extract over crop to control bacterial and fungal diseases.
3.Mix 300 ml of sweet flag extract with one liter of cows urine and 8.7 liters of water.Spraying this extract controls spreading of diseases.Sweet flag extract required for 1 acre of crop is prepared by mixing 400 gm sweetflag powder with 2 liter water.This should be kept undisturbed for 3 hours and then filtered.

Storage pests rats and fungi destroy grains stored after harvest.
1.Rice weevil( Sitophilus oryzae .Coleoptera)
2 Lesser grain Borer(Rhyzopertha dominica.Coleoptera)
3.Angoumois Grain moth or Sitotroga cerealella(Lepidoptera)
4 Rice moth .Corcyra cephalonica .Lepidoptera.
Management in storage :-
1.Godowns keptclean.Waste and unwanted material periodically removed
2.Cracks on floors ,walls,roofs sealed
3.Grains should not have more than 12 % moisture content
4.Gunny bags stacked with proper aereation in between
5.If grains are to be stored for longer periods ,gunny bags should be dried in sun once in three months to prevent pest attack
6.The bags should not be placed directly on floor.Place on a wooden log one foot above ground level to prevent grains from getting moisture
7.When grains are stored in mudpots ,mouth of pot sealed with neem leaf paste
8.Mixing seeds with neem oil prevent pest attacks.1 kg paddy seeds mixed with 10 ml neem oil and dried in shade ,before storing.
9.Bags used for storage should be treated with 10 % neem extract before use.The neem kernel to be used immediately after preparation.Soak gags in it for 15 mts.Then dry in shade and use for storage.If bag is new soak for ½ hour.If bag has loose meshes and small pores thiner solutions to be prepared .By this method grains are protected from pests for 4 months.
10 In store rooms along with cowdung used for cleaning floor,neem kernel extract or neem oil should be used directly .This is to be used for mud walls also
11.If bamboo bins are used for storage they are painted with thick neem kernel extract .
12.Seeds and grains stored are protected from pests by placing leaves of vitex ,neem and pongam on bags and in different places in godown
13.While filling bags ,for every 20 kg seeds,2 handful of powdered vitex ,neem,pongam leaves are spread.By this grains are protected for more than one year
14.Storage godowns should have proper aeration
15.Adult moths controlled by fumigation.Iron pan with hot coal placed in godown/granary .Fresh neem leaves or vitex leaves spread over coal.Doors,windows,ventilators shut during process to facilitate proper spreading of smoke.Smoke should remain in room for 30-45 minutes.Then open dors.The adult moths will beseen lying on floor.Clean the room .This has to be repeated when the adult moths increase in population.
BENEFICIAL ORGANISMS IN PADDY FIELD –FARMER’S FRIENDS
1Lady bird beetle
3 types.
Micraspis crocea (typical coccinellid)eats small brown grasshopper,larvae,exposed eggs ,aphids,coccids,other soft bodied insects
Harmonia octomaculata (blackspotted) eats brown planthopper eggs,nymphs,adults .They are voracious.Eat 5-10 prey/day
Monochilus sexmaculatus eats brown plant hopper,gren leaf hopper,rice aphids,leaf folder,stem borer.
2.Ground beetle .Ophionea nigrofasciata.
Eats leaf folder larvae,brown plant hopper,green leaf hopper,white backed plant hopper,hairy caterpillar,green semilooper,stemborer.Consume 3-5 larvae/day.
3.Crickets .Metioche vittaticollis
Eats striped and darkheaded stem borer,leaf folders,armyworms,nymphs,adults of brown plant hopper.
4.Damsel flies Agriocnemis pygmaea.
Eats brown planthopper,green leafhopper,leaf folder,white backed plant hopper.
5.Earwig.Euborellia stali
Eats stem borer larvae,leaf folder larvae .Each earwig consume 20-30 prey /day
6 Ants .Solenopsis geminate
Eats wide variety of insects like adult blackbugs and their eggs.
7 Wasps belonging to different families.Eat stem borer larvae,brown plant hopper,green leaf hopper,skipper and green hairy caterpillar
8.Long horned grass hoppers .Conocephalus longipennis
Eats rice bugs,stem borer eggs,brown plant hopper,green leaf hopper,nymphs and adults.Each predator consume 1-4 yellow stem borer eggmasses/day
9.Small ripple bug .Microvelia douglasiatrolinata. Eats brown plant hopper,stem borer,larvae,green leaf hopper and softbodied insects.
10 Water stridor.Limnogonus sp.
Eats green leaf hopper,brown plant hopper ,rice leaf roller,armyworm,cutworms
11.Water treader Mesovelia vittigera
Eats gren leaf hopper,brown plant hopper,white backed plant hopper,zigzag leaf hopper
12 Mirid bug .Cyrtorhinus lividipennis
Eats brown plant hopper,green leaf hopper,stem borer,white backed plant hopper .
13 Assasin bug .Polytoxus fuscovittatus
Eats larvae of moths and butterflies
14.Orb spider Argiope sp
Eats leaf folder,brown plant hopper,green leaf hopper,white backed plant hopper,stem borer.
15.Long jawed spider Terragnatha sp
Eats green grass hoper,whitebacked plant hopper,brown plant hopper
16.Wolf spider Lycosa pseudoannulata
Eats stem borer,brown plant hopper,green leaf hopper,(both adult and nymph).An adult consume 15 hoppers/day
17 Lynx spider .Oxyopes sp
Eats brown plant hopper,case worm,green leaf hopper,white backed plant hopper
18 Jumping spider Phidippus sp
Eats green leaf hopper,brown plant hopper,white backed plant hopper,stem borer moths.Each consume 2-8 prey/day
19 Dwarf spider Atypena sp
Eats green leaf hoppers,brown plant hoppers.Each consume 4-5 /day
When we apply chemicals both the harmful and the friendly pests are destroyed totally .When organic extracts are used this does not happen and the race of the harmful pests also survive to some extant (but not to cause destruction to paddy ) so that the predator lives .The predator species live only if the prey species are there.This is what is meant by the saying Jeevo Jeevasya Jeevanam by Susruthasamhitha.It is very different from the survival of the fittest applied in modern sense of the word.(Those with power destroying those without power).The ancients knew how to make use of the principle of Jeevo jeevasya jeevanam by organic extracts and kashaaya and we will see the ingredients of some in next chapter.