Soil and Water Management for Sprinkler Irrigated Rice in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Rice is grown in lowland paddies, which is flood irrigated. In the most undulating areas, continuous flooding is difficult and some farmers seek alternative irrigation methods. Grain yield in sprinkler irrigated rice ranges between 80 and 100% of that obtained under flooding, but for this, fertilizer and water should be properly managed. For sprinkler irrigated rice, fertilizer should be corrected by adding 10 kg/ha of P 2 O 5 and 15 kg/ha of K 2 O for every expected additional ton of grains, over the standard recommendation. Regarding nitrogen fertilizer, it is recommended to be applied about 20 kg/ha of N at planting and the rest as topdressing. This can be done via soil, split into two applications: 50-60% of the topdressing dose at tillering start and the rest at panicle initiation. When N is applied by fertigation, 25% of the recommended topdressing N should be applied at tillering start; the remainder of the dose may be partitioned into four to six weekly applications through irrigation water. For water management, soil water tension should be kept below 10 kPa. At the vegetative stage, irrigation can be applied aiming to avoid water tensions in soil above 30 kPa at any moment.