Since most of the weed seeds are bigger than rice seeds, they are filtered out in the sieves. By threshing rice seeds manually, farmers claim that the plumule area of rice seeds are protected. Man farmers are of the opinion that tractor threshed rice seeds are of poor germination potential. This is usually done one month prior to harvesting. Healthy plots that are free from pests or diseases attack are selected.
Farmers also hold certain beliefs while selecting the rice seed plots.
During the samba season, they select a plot from the north east corner of the field. This is locally termed as sani moolai . During the navarai season, they select a plot from the southwest corner of the field, locally termed as pillayar moolai . Farmers practice their own system of obtaining quality seeds. They form an informal network wherein they visit each other's fields before harvest.