RICE INTEGRATED CROP MANAGEMENT (RICM)

Introduction oo Activities oo Main Achievements oo Major Characteristics of RICM oo The Australian RICM or Ricecheck 

Introduction:  

The Green Revolution has substantially increased rice yields and production during the last 20 years. Recently, however, evidence increasingly indicates that the environment and resource base of rice production in many countries are being increasingly deteriorated and polluted. Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) have been developed and transferred to farmers to improve the efficiency of the application of fertilisers and pesticides in rice production. The 19th Session of the International Rice Commission held in 1998, recognised the positive contributions of INM and IPM to rice production and the conservation of the natural resources. The Commission, however, also recognised the inter-relationship between Nutrient and Pest Management with other Management Practices in rice production such as selection of varieties for planting, seed quality, land preparation and water management, crop establishment, and others. Also in recognition of the successful results of the Rice Integrated Crop Management (RICM), which were developed, tested, and transferred by national programmes in Australia and Egypt, the Commission, at its 19th Session, recommended FAO and Member Countries to support the development of RICM for rice production in all climatic conditions.

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Activities:

The Rice Development Programme (RDP) has undertaken the review of the development and transfer of the Rice Integrated Crop Management (RICM) in Australia and Egypt. Starting in 1999, it collaborated with selected national programmes in the development and test of RICM. It also supported the training of staff of rice programmes in Member Countries in the Sahel zone of West Africa on High Yielding Technology for Rice in year 2000. The RDP also undertook the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information on RICM.

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Main Achievements:

There are only limited achievements in this area. The reports on the results of the initial attempts to develop and test of the RICM were obtained from Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. Also, five (5) staff members of rice programmes from countries in the Sahel zone of West Africa attended a training course on High Yielding Technology, held from 13 May to 13 June 2000 in Egypt.

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Major Characteristics of The Rice Integrated Crop Management (RICM):

  1. The RICM is a holistic crop management, using the best management practices with objective recommendations. The RICM is local specific. Each RICM package is useful only for a location or locations, where conditions of rice production are more or less similar or uniformed. The RICM should have the following characteristics:
    Relevance, Repetition and Reinforcement    .
    • Relevance as weaknesses of the existing crop management practices are identified. Relevance as latest technologies developed by research are applied to correct each of the identified weaknesses.
    • Repetition as the RICM is learning from its own experience. The RICM provides target recommendation (or criteria) for farmers, extension workers and researchers to evaluate the performance of each of the crop management practices. Participants of RICM observe the crop, measure and record the observed performance of each crop management. The records will be compared with the targeted recommendations (or criteria) to interpret what went right and/or what went wrong during the application of crop management practice in order to improve in the next season.
    • Reinforcement as technologies used for correction of weaknesses in crop management are continuously updated with the results from research.

  2. The development of RICM for a particular location needs the following steps:
    • Setting a target yield: the target yield should be substantially higher than the mean yield in the location.
    • Identification of the key weaknesses of existing crop management practices or key technological components that could substantially contribute to reaching the target yield involving research, extension and farmers. Most frequently the key technological components are: varieties, land levelling, time of planting/sowing and crop establishment, weed and insect control/management, nitrogen fertiliser management, and water management.
    • Identification of best management practices for each of the key technological components using latest results from research.

  3. The testing of RICM needs to be carried out in a participatory approach. Participants include a neighbourhood group of farmers, extension workers and researchers. In addition to field observations, which are made individually, the participants have 3 to 5 meetings per crop to share the experience. The meetings are pre-season, post-establishment, panicle initiation, pre-harvest and post-harvest.

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The Australian RICM or Ricecheck

The Ricecheck has only 8 key checks, which are the following:

  1. Key Check 1: Develop a good field layout with a land, which forms even grade between well constructed banks of a minimum height of 40 cm (measured at the lowest point).
  2. Key Check 2: Use the recommended sowing dates.
  3. Key Check 3: Obtain good or economic weed control.
  4. Key Check 4: Establish a seedling population of 150-300 plants per square meter.
  5. Key Check 5: Achieve an optimum crop growth level at panicle initiation of 500 - 1100 shoots per square meter and NIR (near infrared) tissue nitrogen content of 1.2% - 2.2% depending on variety.
  6. Key Check 6: Topdress nitrogen based on shoot counts and NIR tissue analysis using NIR tissue test.
  7. Key Check 7: Achieve an early pollen microspore water depth of 20-25 cm on the high side of each bay for Amaroo, Bogan, Jarrah, YRL 34 and Doongara; and 25 cm for Pelde, YRL 9 and Goolarah.
  8. Key Check 8: Harvest as soon as possible, after physiological maturity, when the grain first reaches 22% moisture.
    Quoted from Source: Lacy et al., 1993. 1993 Ricecheck recommendations. NSW Agriculture and the Rice Research and Development

The experiences gained from the transfer of Ricecheck in Australia indicated that the more keys are adopted, the higher is the chance to obtain a high yield (Fig.1).

 Note: yields are the average of the 4 years data from rice fields in the Jerilderiel Finley area. Source: Lacy et al., 1993. 1993 Ricecheck recommendations.
NSW Agriculture and the Rice Research and Development

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