From Traditions to Trailblazers: Supporting Rice Cultivation
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Archaeologists estimate that humans began growing domesticated rice 9,000 years ago. Today, more than half the world relies on rice as a staple food, and 95% of the rice grown is for human consumption.1 More than a billion people also rely on rice cultivation to make a living.2 Making it easier to successfully grow rice is not just a matter of convenience for farmers, but one of food security and sustenance for the world.
Growing rice is inherently labor intensive, and it can be challenging to create the ideal conditions for rice crops to thrive. In any cultivation method, weeds are a key threat growers have to manage. Typically, fields are flooded to help prevent weeds, but farmers often need to use crop protection products against weeds as well. Rinskor™ active provides excellent control of troublesome weeds with a low use rate—meaning only small amounts of the active ingredient are needed to be effective. This makes it a good match for the goals of many rice farmers. Rinskor gives them options no matter how they choose to grow their crops.
Rinskor™ active in transplanted rice
Transplantation of seedling plants is the most common form of rice cultivation. It produces reliable yield results but requires a lot of labor. By the time rice seedlings have been nurtured in the nursery and carefully planted in the field, growers have already invested significantly in their crop. As a post-emergence herbicide, Rinskor™ active can be applied after transplants are in the field to control grasses, sedges and broadleaves for conventional and herbicide-tolerant rice. Post-transplant application gives producers maximum flexibility in controlling multiple weed threats.
In Japan, farmers also use transplantation, but combined with cutting-edge ideas to help control diseases, insects and weeds in high-value rice crops. This specialized approach is considered its own kind of cultivation and is called the “Japanese method,” although it is used in other countries, including South Korea. The Japanese method employs specially highly calibrated combinations of active ingredients and products. Rinskor is becoming a valuable addition to these strategies because of its low use rate and high level of weed control.
Rinskor™ active in wet direct-seeded rice
Some rice farmers prefer this method, where pre-germinated seed is planted in flooded fields. Planting may be done in rows or by broadcast. This method is less labor intensive than transplantation, and success depends a lot on timely weed control. A post-emergence application of a product containing Rinskor™ active is especially helpful against resistant echinochloa, which is becoming a more prevalent issue with herbicide-tolerant rice varieties.* Rinskor has unique chemical characteristics that change the way it binds to target sites in weeds, making it different from other herbicides commonly used in weeds. Rinskor is helpful early on in wet direct-seeded cultivation, before farmers can get into the field to hand weed and if fields cannot be re-flooded due to water shortages.
Rinskor™ active in dry direct-seeded rice
Dry direct seeding—also called drill seeding—is a method some rice farmers are using to better conserve water resources. In this method, soil needs to be moist enough to germinate seeds, but fields don’t need to be flooded. The pest management challenge arises when fields don’t get significant rain early in the growth of rice plants. Weeds may begin to sprout and get ahead of the growing rice. In this situation, a post-emergent herbicide such as Rinskor™ active is a good option for controlling a broad range of grasses, sedges and broadleaf weeds.** Corteva Agriscience is actively working with rice growers in India, where water resources can be limited, to learn more about how Rinskor can be useful in dry direct-seeded applications. As water conservation becomes a greater priority globally, dry direct seeding may become more prevalent, making it even more important for growers to have access to herbicide options such as Rinskor.
Rice cultivation is a practice that is both traditional and forward-looking. Whether a rice farmer is using techniques that are time honored, time saving or designed for changing times, Rinskor is a useful tool for protecting rice from a range of weed species** to keep supplying this staple food in abundance for the world.
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Corteva Agriscience is working with farmers in India to learn more about how Rinskor can be useful in protecting rice planted through dry direct seeding, a method that conserves water.
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* Rinskor™ active will typically control echinocloa that is resistant to other herbicides through target site mutations.
** Refer to product label(s) for weed species controlled.
1 “Rice,” Encyclopaedia Britannica (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., February 3, 2022), https://www.britannica.com/plant/rice.
2 Mary Williams, “Robert Zeigler. Importance of Rice Science and World Food Security,” Plantae (American Society of Plant Biologists, February 14, 2017), https://plantae.org/robert-zeiglerimportance- of-rice-science-and-world-food-security/.