Growing rice
Oryza sativaPaddy is usually raised in a nursery and transplanted into puddled, flooded fields, though it can also be sown direct. Most regions grow it in the monsoon; some take a second or third crop.
Gangetic plains: eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plains
At a glance
Rice in the Gangetic plains
Across India
When to sow it
Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.
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The window here is November to December.
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- Nursery
- Transplant
- Harvest
- Today
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See the dates as a table
| Region | Sow | Nursery | Transplant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gangetic plains | Late May to late July, by variety duration (Bihar)November to December | July to early August, with 3 to 4 week seedlingsAfter mid-January, once it is warmer than 10°C | By mid-November (long-duration varieties)May to June | |
| Temperate Himalaya | Last week of April (Kashmir valley)Late March to late April (temperate Jammu, higher areas earlier) | Last week of May (lower belts) to mid-June (higher belts); finish by 21 June | Late September to October, later in the higher belts | |
| Cold desert | Not suited here | |||
| Sub-tropical foothills | With the first monsoon shower (direct-sown rainfed rice) | Early May to the third week of June, by variety | Mid-June to 21 July (late dates only when the monsoon fails) | Early October (PC-19 in the recommended rice-marigold-French bean sequence) |
| North-west plains | 1 to 15 June (direct-seeded rice) | 20 May to 20 June | 20 June to 10 July | |
| North-east hills and valleys | March to AprilJune to July | April to MayJuly to AugustSeptember (late sali, 4 to 6 seedlings a hill) | ||
| Arid west | Not suited here | |||
| Central plateau | Late June to early July (direct-sown, with the first good rain) | Mid-June to early July, with the monsoon | July to early August | Late October to November |
| Deccan plateau | June to JulyLate November to December | July to AugustJanuary to early February | Late October to NovemberLate April to May | |
| South interior | December to JanuaryApril to JuneSeptember to October | |||
| West coast | April to MaySeptember to OctoberDecember to January | September to OctoberDecember to JanuaryMarch to April | ||
| East coast | June to JulyAugustSeptember to OctoberDecember to JanuaryApril to May | |||
From seed to harvest
One season, day by day
Days from sowing
Before sowing
Nursery bed
Well-rotted FYM or compost
About 1 kg per m² of nursery bed
Mix into the bed soil before sowing
Green manure
Dhaincha or sunnhemp seed
About 50 kg per hectare
Sow about six weeks before transplanting and plough it in a week before puddling
Field preparation
Well-rotted FYM or compost
About 10 t per hectare
Spread and work in before puddling
After transplanting
Fresh azolla
About 500 kg per hectare
Spread on the standing water; work it in when it covers the surface
No published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Day 0
Sow
Before sowing
Well-rotted FYM or compost
About 1 kg per m² of nursery bed · Mix into the bed soil before sowing · Nursery bed
Dhaincha or sunnhemp seed
About 50 kg per hectare · Sow about six weeks before transplanting and plough it in a week before puddling · Green manure
Well-rotted FYM or compost
About 10 t per hectare · Spread and work in before puddling · Field preparation
Fresh azollaNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
About 500 kg per hectare · Spread on the standing water; work it in when it covers the surface · After transplanting
Day 0
Sow
Day 1 to 2
Day 18 to 40
Day 155
Last picking15
Keep 2 to 5 cm of standing water from transplanting until about two weeks after flowering, with a short drying spell at mid-tillering. In kharif the monsoon covers much of this; boro rice needs regular irrigation all through. Stop 10 to 15 days before harvest.No published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
What it needs
Soil, sun and warmth
Soil pH4,7,12
5 to 9
Clay to clay loam soils that turn to soft mud when puddled and hold water well; loams also suit. Soils that drain fast waste water.
Sunlight4
At least 6 hours a day
Full sun. Punjab's guide links high yields to about 6 to 11 hours of bright sunshine a day, depending on crop stage.
Temperature4,7,12
Grows best at 20 to 34 °C
Monthly temperatures for the Gangetic plains aren't in the library yet.
Water and feeding
WateringNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Keep 2 to 5 cm of standing water from transplanting until about two weeks after flowering, with a short drying spell at mid-tillering. In kharif the monsoon covers much of this; boro rice needs regular irrigation all through. Stop 10 to 15 days before harvest.
WeedingNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Weed by hand or with a cono or rotary weeder at about 20 and 40 days after transplanting. Keeping 3 to 5 cm of water in the field holds weeds back.
| When | What | How much | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nursery bed | Well-rotted FYM or compost | About 1 kg per m² of nursery bed | Mix into the bed soil before sowing |
| Green manure | Dhaincha or sunnhemp seed | About 50 kg per hectare | Sow about six weeks before transplanting and plough it in a week before puddling |
| Field preparation | Well-rotted FYM or compost | About 10 t per hectare | Spread and work in before puddling |
| After transplanting | Fresh azolla | About 500 kg per hectare | Spread on the standing water; work it in when it covers the surface |
Varieties and yield
35 to 50 quintals a hectare
Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.
Rajendra Mahsoori-1, MTU-7029
Long duration; nursery 25 May to 10 June
Rajendra Sweta, BPT-5204
Medium duration; nursery 10 June to 25 July
Sahbhagi Dhan, Sabour Ardhjal, Sabour Harshit, Sabour Deep
Short duration; nursery 25 June to 10 July
Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Pests and diseasesNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Organic and cultural controls only.
Stem borer
Signs
Dead central shoots in young plants and white, empty ears later.
What to do
- Clip the leaf tips of seedlings before transplanting to remove egg masses
- Set up pheromone traps and bird perches
- Harvest close to the ground and plough in the stubble
Brown planthopper
Signs
Hoppers gather at the base of the plants; patches turn brown and dry out (hopper burn).
What to do
- Leave a narrow walking gap every few metres of rows so light and air reach the base
- Drain the field for three or four days
- Avoid heavy nitrogen-rich manuring
Leaf folder
Signs
Leaves folded into tubes with white, scraped streaks.
What to do
- Drag a rope across the crop to shake the caterpillars off
- Keep bunds clear of grass
Rice hispa
Signs
Parallel white streaks on the leaves where beetles scrape and grubs mine inside.
What to do
- Clip the leaf tips of seedlings before transplanting
- Clear grass weeds around the field
Blast
Signs
Spindle-shaped spots with grey centres and brown edges on the leaves; in bad attacks the neck of the panicle rots and breaks over.
Prevention
- Sow clean seed from a healthy crop
- Do not overdo nitrogen-rich manures
- Grow varieties your local KVK lists as tolerant
Bacterial leaf blight
Signs
Yellow stripes from the leaf tips and edges that dry to straw colour, often after storms or floods.
What to do
- Drain the field for a few days when it appears
Prevention
- Do not let water run from one field to the next
Sheath blight
Signs
Grey-green oval patches on the leaf sheaths near the water line that spread upwards.
Prevention
- Keep spacing wide enough for air to move
- Keep bunds free of grass
- Compost or plough in stubble from an affected crop
Brown spot
Signs
Small oval brown spots on leaves and grains, worst on poor or starved soils.
Prevention
- Build the soil with compost or FYM
False smut
Signs
Single grains turn into yellow-green, later dark, powdery balls; worse in humid weather at flowering.
Prevention
- Sow clean seed
- Avoid heavy nitrogen-rich manuring
Seed and the season's end
Saving seed1,4
Pick a good patch of the standing crop and rogue out off-types and sick plants. Harvest and thresh it separately.
Dry the grain well, to about 12 per cent moisture, and keep it in clean bins.
After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Rice is usually followed by wheat, lentil, mustard, potato or vegetables, or by a boro crop where water allows. Work the straw back in or compost it rather than burning it.
Mixing or keeping rice straw in the field builds soil health over the years. Jammu's guide chops straw into pieces of about 5 cm and ploughs it in about 10 days before the next crop.
Rotation
Common rotations in the north: rice followed by wheat, berseem, gram, potato, peas, mustard or barley, often with summer moong or a green manure crop before the next rice.
Sources
Where this comes from
Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.
These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.
- Paddy: crop production guide (Agro Advisory Services)TNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
- Production security through community rice nursery model in agro-climatic regions of Bihar (Indian Farming 75(09), 2025)ICAR (Indian Farming); authors from Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour and ICAR-RCER PatnaRead the source
- Improved production technology for Boro rice in Eastern India (Indian Farming 73(02), 2023)ICAR (Indian Farming)Read the source
- Rice: seasons and varietiesTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
- Transplanted puddled lowland rice: wet nurseryTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
- Package of Practices for Kharif Crops 2016: Rice; Rice cultivation in temperate and semi-temperate regionsDirectorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
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