The water slowly dries up leaving the weeds. Then they plough the fields by turning the soil upside down. Thus, the germinated weeds are killed. Again, they irrigate the nursery area and repeat the entire practice. Farmers claim that meticulous practice of alternative wetting and drying of rice nurseries helps them to minimize weeding.
Farmers look for pest symptoms in rice tillers.
For each rice pest, farmers have their own economic injury levels. They apply pesticides only if the infestation crosses economic injury levels. Only for earhead bug, do they apply pesticide immediately even if only one bug is seen. This practice not only provides aeration for the rice tillers but also exposes the culms of the rice crop where the brown plant hopper is usually found. The damage is severe during the milky stage and grain formation stage.