Organic rice production in cement pots comparing transplanting, seed sowing, and broadcasting of seeds
摘要
This study aimed to compare transplanting, seed sowing, and seed broadcasting as planting methods for organic rice production in cement pots. Cement pots and other containers have been applied for small-scale rice growing in Thailand. Two experiments using Completely Randomized Design with four replications were conducted. The first experiment comprised ten treatments, being 1, 2, 3, and 4 seedlings/hill for transplanting, 3, 5, 7, and 9 seeds/hill for seed sowing, and 62.5 vs. 125 kg seeds/ha for broadcasting. The second experiment compared 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 seeds/hill for seed sowing. Pre-germinated seeds were planted in both experiments in 1-m diameter cement pots at the Agricultural Training Center, Loei Rajabhat University, Loei Province, Thailand from February to May 2021. Azolla microphylla grown before and after rice planting and chicken manure were the sources of nutrients for the rice plants. In the first experiment, seed sowing gave the greatest yield/pot. In the second experiment, the yield/pot decreased with seedling number/hill, as also observed in the first experiment. Therefore, it is recommended to sow pre-germinated seeds with lower number of seeds/hill to produce rice in 1-m diameter cement pots under organic farming practice.