How to grow rice in New Zealand
Written by Yoshimasa Sakurai (Kaiwaka) and Yuki Fukuda (Nelson)
Japanese short grain variety: Yukihikari (snowlight)
Important growing conditions:
- Full day sun;
- clay soils and irrigation (i.e., not suitable for sandy soils);
- protection from birds (pukeko and sparrows), mice and rats; and
- Never allowing competition from Kikuyu and Couch grasses
Seed selection – late September (North Island)
First week of October (South Island)
Planting out in the pots or garden beds – late October (North Island)
First week of November (South Island)
1. Prepare seedlings in late September to early October when it is free from frost. Add 13g of salt to 100g of water, mix well. Put rice seeds in the brine solution and stir well. Wait 5 min and discard seeds that are floating. Select heavy grain that sank and rinse with water. Keep them in a shallow tray with water for 3-5 days but change water every day. You will start seeing the shoots.
2. Sow them in seed raising pots (preferably with a low density). Keep them indoor or in glass house if you have one. Keep them moist.
3. When they are about 20cm long, wash their roots in the water to make it easier to separate each plant.
4. Transplant them into the field (around the first week of November). Three seedlings 30 x 30 cm apart (to maximize yield) in your paddy or dry beds. Other spacing (e.g., 20x 20 cm is fine if your space is limited). Protect them from Pūkeko by using netting. If you are growing rice in vegetable beds, add straw mulch to suppress weeds. Water regularly, especially until plants establish strong roots.
5. During the growing seasons, weed and fertilise them regularly. They need potassium, too. I use seaweed fertilizer. If your soil is organic and fertile, then additional fertilizer is unnecessary.
6. When the top starts to bow, drain the water gradually. When leaves start to fall, drain water completely.
7. When more than 90% of grains are golden colour, it is almost ready for harvest. When they are ripe, harvest and hang them for about a week to dry under a netting. Protect them from birds and rodents.
8. Thresh them. Blow empty husks off to collect the grains. Store them in fridge. Rice straw to be chopped into 5 cm and return to the rice bed as fertilizer for the next season.
Written by Yoshimasa Sakurai (Kaiwaka) and Yuki Fukuda (Nelson)
Japanese short grain variety: Yukihikari (snowlight)
Important growing conditions:
- Full day sun;
- clay soils and irrigation (i.e., not suitable for sandy soils);
- protection from birds (pukeko and sparrows), mice and rats; and
- Never allowing competition from Kikuyu and Couch grasses
Seed selection – late September (North Island)
First week of October (South Island)
Planting out in the pots or garden beds – late October (North Island)
First week of November (South Island)
1. Prepare seedlings in late September to early October when it is free from frost. Add 13g of salt to 100g of water, mix well. Put rice seeds in the brine solution and stir well. Wait 5 min and discard seeds that are floating. Select heavy grain that sank and rinse with water. Keep them in a shallow tray with water for 3-5 days but change water every day. You will start seeing the shoots.
2. Sow them in seed raising pots (preferably with a low density). Keep them indoor or in glass house if you have one. Keep them moist.
3. When they are about 20cm long, wash their roots in the water to make it easier to separate each plant.
4. Transplant them into the field (around the first week of November). Three seedlings 30 x 30 cm apart (to maximize yield) in your paddy or dry beds. Other spacing (e.g., 20x 20 cm is fine if your space is limited). Protect them from Pūkeko by using netting. If you are growing rice in vegetable beds, add straw mulch to suppress weeds. Water regularly, especially until plants establish strong roots.
5. During the growing seasons, weed and fertilise them regularly. They need potassium, too. I use seaweed fertilizer. If your soil is organic and fertile, then additional fertilizer is unnecessary.
6. When the top starts to bow, drain the water gradually. When leaves start to fall, drain water completely.
7. When more than 90% of grains are golden colour, it is almost ready for harvest. When they are ripe, harvest and hang them for about a week to dry under a netting. Protect them from birds and rodents.
8. Thresh them. Blow empty husks off to collect the grains. Store them in fridge. Rice straw to be chopped into 5 cm and return to the rice bed as fertilizer for the next season.
