Land preparation may be carried out while the soil is dry or wet, depending on the water supply. For irrigated rice, the soil is prepared wet or puddled in Asia, but puddling is not generally practiced in America, Europe and Africa. In areas without a hard pan, where animals and tractors sink in the mud, the soil is prepared with hand hoes. Regardless of whether the land is prepared wet or dry, the water is always held on the lowland fields by bunds.
Most irrigated rice is transplanted, although direct seeding is becoming more extensive.
The number of seedlings per hill may vary from one to eight. Direct seeding is done by broadcasting the pregerminated grain by hand in Asia or by water-seeding by airplane in the United States and Australia. Deep-water rice is commonly dryseeded, but it is occasionally transplanted or double transplanted. Ideally, water is maintained in the rice field to suppress weed growth during the growing season. Hand weeding and mechanical or rotary weeders are popular.