Organic rice A Presentation By Mr Allah Dad Khan Visiting Professor Agriculture University Pesh

2. Organic Rice
A Report By
Mr. Allah Dad Khan Agriculture
Expert KPK Pakistan

6.  Managing weeds is one of the major challenges associated
with organic rice production. Unlike conventional farmers,
organic rice farmers do not use chemical herbicides.
 Instead, crop rotations, land leveling, seedbed
preparation, water management, and rotary hoeing are
the main ways organic rice farmers control weeds.
 Crop rotations are particularly important in organic rice
production. Crop rotations reduce weed pressure by
interrupting weed life cycles and reducing the number of
weed seeds in the soil.
 Field flooding is also used to suppress weeds directly and
as a means of giving rice crops an advantage over
competing weeds.

8.  Unlike conventional rice growers, who routinely apply
chemical fertilizers to the soil, organic rice farmers use a
range of natural measures to maintain and enhance soil
fertility.
 This generally involves crop rotation with deep-rooted
legume crops or green manure/cover crops.
 Leguminous green-manure crops supply up to 50 percent
of the nitrogen needs of high-yielding rice varieties.
 Other measures organic rice farmers use to enhance and
maintain soil fertility include encouraging native water
fowl to rest during winter months, applying rock minerals,
animal manures, composts, and other USDA approved
organic amendments.

12.  Controlling pests and disease is a constant challenge for both
conventional and organic rice growers.
 The biggest pest problem facing rice growers are rice water weevils,
whose larvae attach to the roots of young plants and severely reduce the
root system. Plants with reduced root systems grow poorly and have low
yields.
 Another problem is shrimp, which feed on newly germinated rice plants.
 Diseases can also attack both seedlings and mature plants.
 Excessive soil nitrogen levels in conventional rice production often arise
due to high quantities of chemical fertilizer being applied to the soil.
Unlike organic farming, which does not lead to excessive soil nitrogen
levels, this encourages sheath blight, kernel smut, and other diseases.
 Conventional farmers address pest control by routinely applying
chemical pesticides to rice crops.
 Timely planting, variety selection, and cultural practices to suppress
weeds and encourage dense stands of rice are the main methods used by
organic rice farmers to control pests and disease.

25.  Conventional rice farmers generally sell their production
as white rice.They harvest at high moisture (21 to 26
percent moisture), which means the rice is not fully
mature.This is done so that the rice does not shatter when
polished to white. Sometimes, this less mature rice is sold
as brown rice.
 Organic rice farmers often – although not always – sell
their production as brown rice.
 Brown rice is not subjected to the white rice polishing
process. Instead, it is allowed to mature to full flavor in the
field.
 Brown rice is generally harvested at 16 to 18 percent
moisture.This produces more mature fully developed rice
kernels with a richer, fuller flavor.

26.  Rice must be dried down to about 14 percent moisture for
storage.This is achieved by passing freshly harvested rice
across streams of warm air to gradually draw out the
moisture.
 While conventional rice storage relies on a range of
synthetic chemical controls to ensure its integrity, organic
rice storage relies on cleanliness and careful monitoring.
 Organic rice is regularly stirred and aerated with cold air
during the cool winter months. Rice bins are routinely
checked for temperature, moisture, insect activity, and
freshness.
 Organic standards preclude the use of chemical controls in
any rice milling, puffing, processing, or warehousing
facilities.

27.  Pest prevention, through the maintenance of
meticulously clean facilities is the major
means of controlling pests.
 If insects do manage to get in stored grain,
rice bins are filled with natural food-grade
carbon dioxide (a non-toxic gas people exhale
when they breathe) to keep bugs from
damaging rice.