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.
North-west plains: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh
At a glance
Rice in the North-west plains
Across India
When to sow it
Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.
Wait until June
The next sowing here is 1 to 15 June (direct-seeded rice).
- Sow
- Nursery
- Transplant
- Harvest
- Today
- Not suited here
Compare all 12 regionsShow fewer regions
See the dates as a table
| Region | Sow | Nursery | Transplant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North-west plains | 1 to 15 June (direct-seeded rice) | 20 May to 20 June | 20 June to 10 July | |
| 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) |
| 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 | |
| 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
Well-rotted farmyard manure or compost
12 to 15 t per acre of nursery land
Mix into the soil; also spread a thin layer of FYM over the sown seed to keep birds off
Green manure
Dhaincha seed (or cowpea or sunnhemp)
20 kg per acre of dhaincha soaked for 8 hours; 12 kg per acre of cowpea; 20 kg per acre of sunnhemp
Sow by the first week of May after wheat; bury the 6 to 8 week old crop one day before transplanting
Before tillage
Farmyard manure, press mud, poultry manure or dried gobar gas slurry
6 t per acre of FYM or press mud, or 2.5 t per acre of poultry manure, or 2.4 t per acre of dried slurry
Spread before preparatory tillage
Transplanting
Azospirillum biofertiliser
Half a kg packet in 100 litres of water per acre of seedlings
Dip seedling roots for 45 minutes and plant at once
Day 0
Sow
Before sowing
Well-rotted farmyard manure or compost
12 to 15 t per acre of nursery land · Mix into the soil; also spread a thin layer of FYM over the sown seed to keep birds off · Nursery
Dhaincha seed (or cowpea or sunnhemp)
20 kg per acre of dhaincha soaked for 8 hours; 12 kg per acre of cowpea; 20 kg per acre of sunnhemp · Sow by the first week of May after wheat; bury the 6 to 8 week old crop one day before transplanting · Green manure
Farmyard manure, press mud, poultry manure or dried gobar gas slurry
6 t per acre of FYM or press mud, or 2.5 t per acre of poultry manure, or 2.4 t per acre of dried slurry · Spread before preparatory tillage · Before tillage
Azospirillum biofertiliser4
Half a kg packet in 100 litres of water per acre of seedlings · Dip seedling roots for 45 minutes and plant at once · Transplanting
Day 0
Sow
Day 1 to 2
Day 25 to 35
Day 93 to 117
Last picking4
Keep water standing for two weeks after transplanting, then irrigate two days after the ponded water has soaked in. Do not let the field crack, and keep standing water under 10 cm. Stop irrigating about a fortnight before maturity.4
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 North-west plains aren't in the library yet.
Water and feeding
Watering4
Keep water standing for two weeks after transplanting, then irrigate two days after the ponded water has soaked in. Do not let the field crack, and keep standing water under 10 cm. Stop irrigating about a fortnight before maturity.
Weeding4
Run a paddy weeder 15 days after transplanting and again a fortnight later; weed by hand where a weeder cannot go.
| When | What | How much | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nursery | Well-rotted farmyard manure or compost | 12 to 15 t per acre of nursery land | Mix into the soil; also spread a thin layer of FYM over the sown seed to keep birds off |
| Green manure | Dhaincha seed (or cowpea or sunnhemp) | 20 kg per acre of dhaincha soaked for 8 hours; 12 kg per acre of cowpea; 20 kg per acre of sunnhemp | Sow by the first week of May after wheat; bury the 6 to 8 week old crop one day before transplanting |
| Before tillage | Farmyard manure, press mud, poultry manure or dried gobar gas slurry | 6 t per acre of FYM or press mud, or 2.5 t per acre of poultry manure, or 2.4 t per acre of dried slurry | Spread before preparatory tillage |
| Transplanting | Azospirillum biofertiliser | Half a kg packet in 100 litres of water per acre of seedlings | Dip seedling roots for 45 minutes and plant at once |
Varieties and yield
60 to 75 quintals a hectare
Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.
PR 133, PR 132, PR 131, PR 129, PR 128
Medium duration, about 105 to 111 days after transplanting; PR 131 not for sub-mountain areas
PR 130, PR 127, HKR 47
Mid-early to medium
PR 126
Early, about 93 days after transplanting; transplant 25 to 30 day seedlings, not after 15 July
PR 122, PR 121, PR 114, PR 113
Older recommended varieties
Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Pests and diseases4
Organic and cultural controls only.
Stem borers
Signs
Dead, yellow central shoots in young plants and white, empty ears later, July to October.
Leaf folder
Signs
Folded leaves with white streaks, worst from August to October.
What to do
- Before flowering, with water standing, drag a 20 to 30 m coir or jute rope across the canopy, forwards and back
Planthoppers
Signs
Feed at the base of the plants and are easily missed until patches dry out (hopper burn).
Prevention
- Check the base of the plants regularly
Sheath blight
Signs
Greyish green lesions with purple edges on sheaths above the water line.
Prevention
- Destroy straw and stubble from an affected crop
- Do not overuse nitrogen
- Keep bunds clear of grass
False smut
Signs
Single grains turn into yellow-green velvety balls; worse with humid, rainy weather at flowering.
Brown leaf spot
Signs
Oval brown spots with a dark centre on leaves and grains, mostly on poor soils.
Prevention
- Give the crop balanced nutrition
Blast
Signs
Spindle-shaped spots with grey centres on leaves; brown neck rot makes the panicles fall over. Worse on basmati in sub-mountain areas.
Prevention
- Avoid heavy nitrogen
Sheath rot
Signs
Grey-brown lesions on the top leaf sheath; panicles fail to emerge fully.
Prevention
- Destroy straw from an affected crop
- Sow healthy seed
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 picking4
Rotations include rice-wheat, rice-berseem, rice-potato and rice-gram-summer moong. Keep or work in the straw rather than burning it; PAU says this builds soil health over time.
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
- 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 2025: RicePunjab Agricultural University, LudhianaRead 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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