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Cereals · Grain cereal

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.

Sub-tropical foothills: Jammu, Kangra, Dehradun

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
Green rice plants with flowering panicles standing in a paddy field
Photo: Sajib5467 · CC0

At a glance

Rice in the Sub-tropical foothills

  • Season

    Kharif. Nursery in May, transplanting from mid-June, harvest in October.7

  • Sowing to last picking

    100 to 140 days from seed to seed, by variety.7

  • Sow

    With the first monsoon shower (direct-sown rainfed rice)7

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Wait until June

The next sowing here is With the first monsoon shower (direct-sown rainfed rice).

Sowing now in:Gangetic plains
  • Sow
  • Nursery
  • Transplant
  • Harvest
  • Today
  • Not suited here
Sub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunTemperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, Delhi
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiNot suited hereNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratNot suited hereCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
Sub-tropical foothillsWith the first monsoon shower (direct-sown rainfed rice)Early May to the third week of June, by varietyMid-June to 21 July (late dates only when the monsoon fails)Early October (PC-19 in the recommended rice-marigold-French bean sequence)
Temperate HimalayaLast 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 JuneLate September to October, later in the higher belts
Cold desertNot suited here
North-west plains1 to 15 June (direct-seeded rice)20 May to 20 June20 June to 10 July
Gangetic plainsLate May to late July, by variety duration (Bihar)November to DecemberJuly to early August, with 3 to 4 week seedlingsAfter mid-January, once it is warmer than 10°CBy mid-November (long-duration varieties)May to June
North-east hills and valleysMarch to AprilJune to JulyApril to MayJuly to AugustSeptember (late sali, 4 to 6 seedlings a hill)
Arid westNot suited here
Central plateauLate June to early July (direct-sown, with the first good rain)Mid-June to early July, with the monsoonJuly to early AugustLate October to November
Deccan plateauJune to JulyLate November to DecemberJuly to AugustJanuary to early FebruaryLate October to NovemberLate April to May
South interiorDecember to JanuaryApril to JuneSeptember to October
West coastApril to MaySeptember to OctoberDecember to JanuarySeptember to OctoberDecember to JanuaryMarch to April
East coastJune to JulyAugustSeptember to OctoberDecember to JanuaryApril to May

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Well-rotted farmyard manure or compost

    1.5 kg per m² of nursery bed (15 kg per 10 m²) · Mix into the bed soil · Nursery bed

    Dhaincha seed

    60 to 65 kg per hectare · Sow about one and a half months before transplanting; plough in 7 to 10 days before transplanting and let it rot in standing water · Green manure

    Well-decomposed farmyard manure or compost

    15 t per hectare · Mix in after the first ploughing · Field preparation

    Leucaena biomass (when FYM is short)7

    2.5 t per hectare, dry weight · Work in at puddling · Puddling

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 1 to 2

    Seeds come up1,3,4,7

  4. Day 18 to 40

    Transplant1,4,5,7,3

  5. Day 100 to 140

    Last picking7

Keep 5 cm of water for 5 days after transplanting. Then irrigate when hairline cracks appear, alternating wet and dry until maturity, or give 7 cm every 8 days in dry spells. Stop three weeks before harvest.7

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 Sub-tropical foothills aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering7

Keep 5 cm of water for 5 days after transplanting. Then irrigate when hairline cracks appear, alternating wet and dry until maturity, or give 7 cm every 8 days in dry spells. Stop three weeks before harvest.

Weeding7

Two weedings: about 15 days after transplanting and a fortnight later, with a rice weeder between lines or by hand.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Nursery bedWell-rotted farmyard manure or compost1.5 kg per m² of nursery bed (15 kg per 10 m²)Mix into the bed soil
Green manureDhaincha seed60 to 65 kg per hectareSow about one and a half months before transplanting; plough in 7 to 10 days before transplanting and let it rot in standing water
Field preparationWell-decomposed farmyard manure or compost15 t per hectareMix in after the first ploughing
PuddlingLeucaena biomass (when FYM is short)2.5 t per hectare, dry weightWork in at puddling

Sources7

Varieties and yield

Typical rangeNo published guide covers this for the Sub-tropical foothills, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

35 to 55 quintals a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here7

  • IET-1410

    Early, 115 to 120 days; irrigated areas of Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur and Rajouri

  • Ratna, Tawi (PC-19), SJR-5

    Medium, 120 to 125 days, assured irrigation

  • Jaya, PR-113, RR-8585

    Late, 135 to 140 days; Jammu, Kathua and Samba with assured irrigation

  • China-1039, K-39 (SKAU-5)

    Rainfed, up to 1200 m

Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the Sub-tropical foothills, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Grows well with

Pests and diseases7

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Stem borer

    Signs

    Dead central shoots in young plants; white, empty ears later. Active July to September.

    What to do

    • Set up bird perches, about 20 a hectare
    • Pheromone traps, one a kanal, to catch the males

  • Pest

    Leafhoppers and planthoppers

    Signs

    Plants lose vigour and look sick; sooty mould on the leaves. Active early July to September.

    What to do

    • Clear grass weeds such as Cynodon, Echinochloa and Eleusine around the field
    • Put out straw bundles, one a kanal, to shelter spiders

  • Pest

    Rice hispa

    Signs

    Parallel white streaks on leaves from August to September.

    What to do

    • Avoid late planting
    • Clip damaged leaf tips in the nursery before transplanting

  • Pest

    Grasshopper

    Signs

    Leaf edges eaten irregularly; developing ears cut.

    What to do

    • Scrape the top soil of the bunds before the monsoon to destroy the eggs

  • Pest

    Leaf folder

    Signs

    Leaves folded into tubes with white streaks.

    What to do

    • Light traps, one a kanal
    • Drag a rope across the crop to dislodge the caterpillars

  • Disease

    Bacterial leaf blight

    Signs

    Greenish yellow stripes along leaf edges that dry white from the tip, usually at flowering in Jammu.

    What to do

    • Drain the field and refill with fresh water after four days

    Prevention

    • Avoid letting water run from one field to the next

  • Disease

    Sheath blight

    Signs

    Greenish grey, snake-skin lesions on stems and sheaths above the water line from maximum tillering.

    Prevention

    • Use healthy seed
    • Plough deep
    • Avoid close planting and keep the field clean
    • Rotate crops

  • Disease

    Brown leaf spot

    Signs

    Small dark spots with reddish brown rings on leaves and grains.

    Prevention

    • Raise the nursery from healthy seed

  • Disease

    Blast

    Signs

    Eye-shaped, ash-centred spots on leaves; neck and ears in bad attacks.

    Prevention

    • Raise the nursery from 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 picking7

Common sequences are rice then wheat, mustard, potato, berseem or peas. Chop rice straw into pieces of about 5 cm and plough it in about 10 days before the next crop.

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.

  1. 1Paddy: crop production guide (Agro Advisory Services)TNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  2. 2Rice: seasons and varietiesTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  3. 3Transplanted puddled lowland rice: wet nurseryTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  4. 7Package 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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