Dressed in new leaves, spring, the king of seasons, is arriving. Leaving behind the leaf-shedding days of winter, the month of Falgun brings many colours to nature, lifting the thick blanket of fog and spreading the scent of flowers on the air.

The fresh energy and inspiration of new life touches our farming as well as nature. So at the start of Falgun, farmers need to know what to do for boro and aus rice.

• When the seedlings are 50–55 days old, or 5–7 days before panicle initiation, top-dress the last instalment of urea.
• Before applying fertiliser, weed the field and drain the water from it.
• Irrigate boro fields using the alternate wetting and drying method.
• Clean and repair irrigation channels.
• Run irrigation pumps at night, so that the electricity supply stays uninterrupted.
• From panicle initiation until the grain reaches the milk stage, keep 3–4 inches of water in the field.
• Inspect the field regularly for pests and keep it pest-free through integrated pest management: light traps, sweep nets, destroying egg masses of harmful insects, conserving beneficial insects, and planting branches in the field as perches for birds.

Ufra, blast, leaf blight and tungro appear in rice fields at this time:

• If ufra appears, apply a nematicide containing emamectin benzoate, such as Sunmectin or Miena.
• If blast appears, stop urea top-dressing for the time being and apply 160 grams per acre of Trooper or Zil Banativo twice, 10–15 days apart.
• If leaf blight appears, top-dress an extra 5 kg of potash per bigha, dry out the field and irrigate again after 7–10 days.
• To control tungro, control its carrier, the green leafhopper.

From the second week of this month, prepare seedbeds for high-yielding aus. Test the seed saved for aus thoroughly. If necessary, sun it once, cool the seed and store it in a seed container.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.