Land preparation  

How does land preparation and water management affect crop establishment, weed management and rice yields? And why does a field need to be perfectly levelled to have optimal effect of fertilizers?

To know the answers to these and other questions, watch this video.

Rice seedbed preparation  

In this video, we will learn how to prepare a seedbed, as establishing a good seedbed is needed to obtain strong seedlings and give your crop a good start.

Let’s look at it step by step

Rice transplanting 

 “Yields are much higher when rice is transplanted. Compared to broadcasting, yields are two or three times higher.”

Rice weed management 

As we know that effective weed control could increase yields by more than 50%, it surely is worthwhile taking a closer look. In this video we will learn how to control weeds most effectively

There are many problems with poor seed, and spotted and discolored seed are some of the major ones. These spotted seeds could not be removed by winnowing or seed floatation. They can only be removed by manual sorting. By seeing this video you will learn how to clean seed as one of the interventions to produce and use healthy seed

Seed cleaning by floatation

Why not try this new technique of seed floatation before sowing your seed…
“When the farmers take out their seed from storage and open the lid of the container, they may find flying insects. To confirm if the seed has been attacked, the farmer takes a sample of seed in his hand and on close observation they will find holes in the seed. Insects eat the endosperm - the inside of the seed - so these seeds become light and easily float on the water.”

Well-dried seed is good seed  )

Farmers face great difficulties with drying their seeds because seed absorbs moisture from the soil. As a result, seed quality deteriorates, and no-one can expect good yields by using poor quality seed. In this video you can see how farmers of Maria village solved this problem by themselves. Now they are no longer worried about drying seed, even during the rainy season.

Seed preservation techniques 

Based on hard real life experience, the women of Maria village have devised some very effective techniques for seed preservation.

Let us learn from some of these innovative women …

Improving rice quality 

“…culture of quality is very important for us to push back the dumping from outside, if we don’t do it; whether its from Africa, whether it’s from my mothers kitchen, people are not going to buy it, so we have to become competitive, we have to develop competitive advantage and quality is the most important element in competitive advantage and, it’s within our reach, we can do it.”

Cashing in with parboiled rice 

Although rice is highly nutritious, a lot of the quality is lost during processing. This results in poor quality rice on the market. So consumers turn to imported rice. In this video you will learn about parboiling, a way to improve the quality of rice by treating paddy with warm water and steam.

There are many good reasons for parboiling rice. The market for quality rice is growing. Food vendors and restaurant owners start to use parboiled rice because it is already clean and easy to cook. Most importantly, parboiled rice is more nutritious than non-parboiled rice