Organic rice suppliers have witnessed consistent growth in the organic rice market through recent years. The concern regarding the extensive use of chemicals in agriculture has encouraged the world to turn to and embrace organic farming methods. Therefore, the demand for organic rice has increased in the past few years. Due to this growing demand, a gap between supply and demand has been widening. To fill this gap, an increase in production is necessary. To do so, breaking down the common challenges that affect production speed such as, soil fertility, weed control, pests, and crop diseases, needs to be addressed.
Suppressing weed
Suppressing weed is primarily done through utilizing the following methods: rotary hoeing, water management, land leveling, and crop rotations. However, regarding accelerating production, these methods may not be enough to control weed growth and spread.
To decrease the weed growth/spread, extending the two-year rice/soybean crop rotation to three-years of rice/soybeans/ sorghum may aid the problem. Increasing the length of rotations breaks the weed life cycle and reduces the weed seeds present in the soil. Other options focus on field flooding to suppress weed. Flooding works best if the field is precisely leveled. The depth of water stays uniform on a precisely leveled field and assists the rapid flow.
Soil fertility
The maintenance of soil fertility in organic farming is typically done by involving deep-rooted vegetable crops in crop rotation or utilizing soil meals for fertilization, Vegetable crops, such as legumes, can fulfill up to 50% nitrogen need for high yielding rice crops. Incorporating soil meals to fertilize the soil, such as manure, can increase levels of phosphorus and potassium. Additionally, soil meals such as kelp or seaweed increase the levels of phosphorus, magnesium, and sulfur in the soil, making it richer for farming. Adding additional nutrients such as calcium and other micronutrients can be applied into the soil through a variety of rock dust such as granite, gypsum, or basalt.
Pests and crop diseases
Pests are a minor challenge for rice farming as rice is grown in flooded fields. In the absence of flooding, populations of chinch bugs and fall armyworms can build up. However, they can be easily taken care of by flushing them out with more water. Some stubborn pests are stink bugs and rice water weevils who are not affected by flooding. They can be controlled through drill seeding or simply planting seeds on time. Delaying the planting process makes the rice more susceptible to pests and damage.
Diseases like sheath blast and rice blast are mostly controlled by careful variety selection. Extreme nitrogen levels, which is a rare occurrence, increases the risk of diseases like rice blast, sheath blast, etc. Simply checking nitrogen levels in the soil prior will help avoid this issue.
By taking the appropriate precautions for the presented challenges, organic rice suppliers can increase their organic rice production to be able to reduce the gap between supply and demand.