Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure
1.7.
Rice seedlings raised by the wet-bed method.
successful harvest, but Donio obtains his seed from his previous harvest and not from
seed growers because the price for him is prohibitive.
In the Philippines rice seedlings are grown and transplanted to the rice paddy,
where it grows and matures. In preparing seedlings, Donio follows the Dapog
method (see below), which is not as costly as the wet-bed method; see Figure 1.7. In
dapog, the seedbed can be made in the yard of the house, thus requiring less labor com-
pared to the wet-bed method, which is prepared in the paddy, and thus requires some
land preparation and higher labor cost.
Wet-Bed and Dapog Methods of Seedling Preparation
For both the wet-bed and dapog method of preparing rice seedlings, seed is
placed in a sack and submerged for 48 hours in water. This allows the seed to ger-
minate. In the wet-bed method a seedbed is prepared in a small portion of a rice
paddy having a shallow covering of water. Sprouted seed is placed on the
seedbed and allowed to grow for 15 to 20 days before being pulled, put into
small “bundles,” and carried to the field for planting. In the dapog method the
sprouted seed is spread thickly on a dry area, or piece of concrete, which will
not be part of a rice paddy. It is allowed to grow for a maximum of 10 days, during
which time it must be kept constantly wet. It is rolled up much like a carpet and
carried to the field and planted.
Nelson recommends that the field be harrowed two to three times before transplant-
ing because thorough land preparation helps control weeds before transplanting. Donio
harrows the field only once to lessen expenses.
Donio says that he does not have many problems with pests. It is possible that he
has but just does not recognize their occurrence because he does not attend farmer's
training. If he recognized the presence of pests, he may ignore them because of his
