Summary XXVI IRTA Rice Cultivation Field Day

EDYPRO participated, last August 27th, in the XXVI Rice Field Day. This year’s meeting focused on the analysis of new techniques aimed at continuous improvement of rice cultivation. An aspect that is especially relevant for our production system that can help overcome this very particular situation that we are experiencing and in which terms such as biodiversity, the environment and food security come into play.

During the month of November, the videos that summarize the presentations that took place throughout the day have been published and, through this post, we want to share the highlights of the most relevant of them.

Oriol Ferré, from IRTA Amposta, explained a test on new varieties of rice in the registration phase. The objective is to evaluate the agronomic behavior of new varieties of rice in the registration phase under the growing conditions of Delta del Ebro.

As Ferré explained, developing a variety and registering it is a very expensive job that can take up from 8 to 10 years. These new varieties are developed for their special characteristics or their production potential.

The phases a new variety goes through until it its registration are:

  1. Obtaining of the variety.
  2. Variety identification in a laboratory (2 years).
  3. Field phase (the current phase of this test), tests in different growing areas. This specifically in the Delta, Extremadura and Andalucia.
  4. Registration in the European Union, for which they have to pass certain criteria. If the European registration is made, it means that all member countries can use it and work with this variety.

In this test no fungicide treatment has been used because they want to see the behavior of the new varieties with these diseases. Besides, the station technicians monitor and assess plant density (how many there are per square meter), head monitoring, panicle density, plant height, grain yield, biometrics, etc.

With these data, a report is made and in February all the test areas share the results and there it is decided which ones will be registered. The main criterion is that the varieties in the registration phase have to outperform the varieties in the reference phase or have some special characteristic. For example, varieties registered last year had higher tolerance to diseases.

Maite Martínez, from IRTA Sant Carles de la Ràpita, focused her presentation on the description of the Carbocert project. It is an ambitious plan to study and promote agricultural practices that maximize the sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere.

This mechanism is of great importance in the fight against climate change since carbon is the cause of the greenhouse effect. In Spain, 53% of the surface is agricultural land, so the dissemination of this technique in agriculture would bring notable environmental benefits.

The project consists of extracting carbon from the atmosphere and stably accumulating it in the cultivation soil or in the plant structure, the more quantity and the larger, the better. The test is being carried out on the most common types of crops in our country: olive, vine, almond, citrus, rice and wheat. And the results conclude that, in addition to be a fantastic tool to curb climate change, it provides important agronomic benefits, such as improving the amount of organic matter in the soil, increasing fertility.

Gemma Murillo, from the Fertilization Office, presented the conclusions of a test on organic fertilization in dry sowing. The comparison was made between mineral, organic fertilization with slurry and chicken manure and an unfertilized control. The results show that fertilization is essential, otherwise only half of the production is obtained, and that the mineral treatment is the one with the highest yield. Regarding organic fertilization, the results of chicken manure and slurry vary over the years depending on the weather conditions recorded.

For her part, María del Mar Català, from IRTA Amposta, addressed in her presentations the management and control of diseases in ecological production and zero waste. Català pointed out that, in both cases, the best strategy is to use a good variety that due to its genetics is resistant to diseases and to carry out good agronomic management.

Finally, we highlight the presentation by Néstor Pérez who explained the project Promoting Biodiversity, integrated into the Kellogg’s Origins program. The plan aims to promote agricultural practices that are more respectful of nature and biodiversity, which in turn respond to the demands of consumers looking for more sustainable products grown under these premises. The test that was presented aimed to promote green margins in rice fields, which are normally treated with herbicides and left bare. The study concludes that maintaining these natural margins has great agronomic advantages since it increases protection against pests, which take refuge there instead of in the crop, improves resistance to weeds and creates a root system that prevents soil erosion and prevents the American red crab (invasive species) from building their galleries under fields.

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