RICE MYTHS
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Valley Circles for Rice ®

Circles for Rice – The Project orldwide, rice is most often grown with traditional flood irrigation methods. While this practice has proven successful for centuries, the availability of water for food production continues to become more scarce. Continuous population growth will roughly double food demand in the next fifty years, and the world is looking for additional food production with minimal increases in the amount of land used to produce this food. Because rice is a staple crop for those regions with the highest projected population growth, it is necessary to develop efficient farming...

The machine won’t be able to provide U B ST ED sufficient water during grain fill. • One of the most important factors to consider when thinking about irrigating rice with a center pivot is how much flow you should have. If the flow is sufficient and the appropriate machine length and drive train are specified, there is limited concern about being able to apply sufficient water. One American grower had an average flow of 450 gallons/minute (28.4 liters/ second) on a 140 acre (56 hectare) field with sandy soil. It was quickly discovered that this flow would not be enough water to maintain a...

You will lose the corners of the field. • One of the challenges perceived when irrigating rice with a center pivot is figuring out how to maintain a rice crop in the corners of the field. While the center pivot alone cannot cover this section of the field, there are other options. 1. The first option is a corner arm that can be attached to the pivot itself. The arm will swing out when it reaches the corners and then back in once it has passed the corner. The corner arm will allow for approximately 95% of a square field to be irrigated. For irregular shaped fields, the corner arm can...

Blast cannot be controlled when U B ST ED irrigating with a center pivot. • Blast can definitely be more of an issue when the ground is dry, because splashing water, such as that from a sprinkler, can transport blast spores onto the plant. • The first key is selection of blast resistant varieties or hybrids. • Fungicides are very effective today. The University of Missouri Delta Research Center in the United States studied blast and brown spot in pivot-irrigated rice. Their research showed that with proper application of fungicides, good control could be achieved in blast-susceptible...

Center pivots won’t work because U B ST ED the wheels will get stuck. • This myth is common, and often brought up because individuals are not aware that a heavy application of water is NOT needed when irrigating rice. With careful irrigation management, knowledge of your soil type, proper hardware and the use of light, frequent irrigation applications, much of this concern can be eliminated. • Possible hardware options that may be considered, depending on the soil type and machine management, include: 1. Boombacks and part-circle sprinklers – boombacks are placed behind the wheels of the...

You cannot achieve the same yields with center pivots BUST E and linears as you can achieve with flood irrigation. D • Ultimately, the most important result from growing rice is profitability, but we all know farmers like to talk about their yields and how they compare to other fields. It is commonly thought that center pivot and linear irrigation do not yield as well as flood irrigated fields. 1. Historically, with any crop that has been converted from flood irrigation to center pivot irrigation, there may be an initial drop in yields. 2. A drop in yields can be largely due to the fact...

Weeds can’t be controlled when irrigating BUST ED with a center pivot or linear. • The most common reason for flood irrigating rice is to control the weeds. With center pivot and linear irrigation, weeds can be controlled with careful planning and scouting of the field. Just as with flood irrigation, if issues are discovered, timely herbicide applications are required. 1. Sprinkler irrigation can activate the herbicides without needing to depend on rain or having to flush the entire field. 2. Soil moisture can be managed with a center pivot or linear, allowing the majority of post emergence...