Fertiliser is essential to rice farming; without it, raising crop output becomes impossible. Balanced, measured, timely and correct use of fertiliser in rice is also vital, and using guti urea (urea briquettes) ensures that fertiliser is applied to the land in balanced doses. Here is how to use guti urea correctly. Today, part one.

Guti urea is made from ordinary market urea with a briquette machine. Three types are currently made in Bangladesh:

• Of the 0.9-gram briquettes, three are buried in the middle of every four hills of Boro rice, and two in the middle of every four hills of Aus and Aman rice.
• One 1.8-gram briquette is buried in the middle of every four hills of Aus and Aman rice.
• One 2.7-gram briquette is buried in the middle of every four hills of Boro rice.

In rice farming urea is usually broadcast. Applied this way, its effectiveness falls greatly and up to 70 percent is wasted, so the rice plants cannot take up the urea they need. But if guti urea is buried 7 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) below the soil, urea efficiency more than doubles, and rice yields rise by 20 to 25 percent.

Why guti urea pays:

• Nitrogen is available to the plant for longer and in much greater amounts.
• Less urea is needed.
• Yields and farmers' income rise.
• The land improves.

• Five to seven days before applying guti urea, transplant the rice seedlings at 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 inches) between lines and plants, or 9 x 6 inches for BRRI dhan29.
• Apply guti urea within 10 to 12 days of transplanting, before the soil hardens.
• Guti urea is easiest to apply when there is 2 to 3 cm (1 inch) of water in the field.
• Take enough briquettes to reach the end of the line.
• Start applying from the right-hand side of the field.
• Bury a briquette 3 to 4 inches deep in the middle of every four hills of lines one and two.
• At the end of the field, take more briquettes and apply them in the middle of every four hills of the next lines three and four.
• At the end of the field, apply briquettes in the same way between lines five and six.
• Take care not to step where briquettes have been placed.
• Sometimes farmers find it easier to apply briquettes to two, four or six lines at a time.
• Do not enter the field within 30 days of applying the briquettes.
• If you must enter, step only where you stepped before.
• Keep enough water in the field after applying the briquettes so that the soil does not crack.

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