Fungal Dominant Compost – worldagriculturesolutions

Application of intensive gardening methods to rice fields increases grain yields substantially.

RICE RESENTS TRANSPLANTING

Bare Root Transplants Grown in Manure Compost (40 days from seeding): 3,122 pounds per acre

2-Inch Manure Cubes: 5,303 pounds per acre

5-Ounce Manure Pots: 6,089 pounds per acre

Direct Seeded Sprouted Rice: 7,620 pounds per acre

Transplant shock reduces yields. Pots are better than cubes for preventing root injury. Transplant seedlings directly first root shows on pot or cube. There is no advantage to delayed planting. Set transplants as soon as practical. Every day lost lowers grain yield. For best results plant pre-sprouted seeds.

RICE DISLIKES FLOODING

Paddy Rice (continuous flooding 8 inches deep): 2,884 pounds per acre

Upland Rice (sprinkler irrigated 28 inches): 4,400 pounds per acre

Rice tolerates flooding but does not thrive. For best yields keep fields moist but not wet. Roots need oxygen to absorb water and nutrients.

CULTIVATION HARMS RICE

Machine Cultivated 4 Times (every 14 days): 2,911 pounds per acre

Hand Weeded 4 Times (every 14 days): 3,460 pounds per acre

56-Day Flood 8 Inches Deep: 3,885 pounds per acre

Flame Weeded 4 Times (every 14 days): 4,336 pounds per acre

Dutch White Clover Living Mulch: 4,532 pounds per acre

Burlap Mulch 2 Bags = 4 Layers Thick: 5,617 pounds per acre

Chopped Weed Mulch 6 Inches Deep: 6,503 pounds per acre

Velvet Bean Mulch-In-Place: 6,924 pounds per acre

Any practice that disturbs soil ecology lowers crop yields. For best results do not plow, disk, harrow, or cultivate fields. Do not interfere with natural biological processes. Try to mimic nature whenever practical.

CROWDING LOWERS RICE YIELD

1 Pre-Sprouted Seed Per Hill: 6,887 pounds per acre

1 Transplant Per Hill: 4,143 pounds per acre

3 Transplants Per Hill: 3,681 pounds per acre

5 Transplants Per Hill: 2,343 pounds per acre

10 Transplants Per Hill: 2,616 pounds per acre

15 Transplants Per Hill: 2,569 pounds per acre

(12-inch equidistant spacing. 208 rows x 208 plants per row = 43,264 plants per acre. 40-day transplants from seeding).

Equidistant spacing increases crop yields by reducing plant competition for light and nutrients. Direct seeded crops usually outperform transplants. Transplant shock is not always immediately apparent; crops can be retarded 2 to 3 weeks which lowers yields.

IRRIGATION BOOSTS GRAIN YIELD

20 Inches Rainfall: 1,298 pounds per acre

Continuous Flooding 1 Inch Deep: 2,559 pounds per acre

20 Inches Rainfall + 8 Inches Irrigation at Grain Filling: 3,003 pounds per acre

Monsoon Rice (Exceeding 28 Inches without Flooding): 3,854 pounds per acre

Ridge & Furrow Irrigation (28 inches): 4,235 pounds per acre

Sheet Irrigation (28 inches) = No Standing Water: 4,870 pounds per acre

Sprinkler Irrigation (28 inches): 5,736 pounds per acre

Drip Irrigation (28 inches): 6,480 pounds per acre

Most agricultural soils do not have enough oxygen for optimum crop growth. Flooded fields yield poorly.

FERTILIZER INCREASES RICE YIELD

No Fertilizer (Rice After Fallow): 3,014 pounds per acre

Supplemental Phosphorus Only (40 pounds per acre): 3,949 pounds per acre

5-10-5 Broadcast (1 Ton Per Acre = 100 Pounds Nitrogen): 4,642 pounds per acre

Velvet Bean Mulch-In-Place (98 Pounds Nitrogen Per Acre): 5,220 pounds per acre

Composted Cow Manure (8 Tons Per Acre = 104 Pounds Nitrogen): 5,833 pounds per acre

Manure Lagoon Water (0.75 Acre-Inch = 20,000 Gallons = 100 Lb Nitrogen / Acre): 6,750 pounds per acre

Small amounts of nutrients can double yields. Prefer biological fertilizers whenever practical.

RICE PREFERS DEEP SOILS

4 Inches of Topsoil over Granite: 1,338 pounds per acre

8 Inches of Topsoil over Granite: 1,734 pounds per acre

12 Inches of Topsoil over Granite: 2,223 pounds per acre

18-Inch Raised Bed: 3,446 pounds per acre

24-Inch Raised Bed: 4,580 pounds per acre

36-Inch Terrace: 4,965 pounds per acre

Crop yield is directly related to soil volume. More roots = more water and nutrients = bigger harvests. Manage fields to increase soil depth and eliminate compaction. Rule-of-Thumb: 5% yield loss for every 1-inch decrease in topsoil depth. 2.25% yield loss for every 1-inch decrease in subsoil depth. This rule applies to most seed crops.

SEED INOCULATION RAISES GRAIN YIELDS

Pre-Sprouted Upland Rice without Beneficial Microbes: 2,622 pounds per acre

Upland Rice Seed Soaked 24 Hours in Fresh Cow Manure Tea (1 dung : 1 water by weight): 3,361 pounds per acre. Use FRESH manure only. Do not use dried or composted dung.

Upland Rice Seed Soaked 24 Hours in Compost Tea (1 compost : 1 water by weight): 3,638 pounds per acre. Use only low temperature, aerobic, fungal dominant compost.

Rice grows better with symbiotic fungi and bacteria. Fungi provide water and minerals to rice. Bacteria fix nitrogen. Active soil biology replaces synthetic chemicals.

SOIL AERATION INCREASES RICE YIELD

16 Inches Topsoil: 2,809 pounds per acre

Subsoil Tillage 16 Inches Deep (0.75-inch wide slit every foot): 3,711 pounds per acre

16 Inches Potting Soil (1 topsoil + 1 coarse sand + 1 peat = 3 parts by volume): 4,261 pounds per acre

16 Inches Topsoil over 4-Inch Diameter Forced Air Ducts Every 2 Feet Apart (220 cubic feet per minute): 5,369 pounds per acre

16 Inches Composted Hardwood Bark: 6,546 pounds per acre

For highest yields manage fields to increase soil porosity. Healthy soils need to breathe. Roots need air to absorb water and nutrients. More oxygen = bigger harvests.

HISTORICAL NOTE: Yield data come from numerous unrelated experiments conducted at many diverse sites over 5 decades, 1930 to 1980. Results are not definitive (absolute) but rather suggestive. The trends are more important than the numbers. For example: Flooded rice generally yields less than sheet irrigated rice (alternate wetting and drying) which usually produces lower yields than sprinkler irrigated rice. These results typically hold true regardless of variety, cultural methods, or environmental conditions. Experimental data vary but the underlying principle does not: Soil aeration increases grain yields. More oxygen = more rice.

This article was written before development of the modern System of Intensive Rice Cultivation. Consequently, the importance of transplanting 10 to 12-day old seedlings was unknown to the Author. 2-leaf transplants develop many tillers which greatly increase rice yields. Equidistant spacing of young transplants is the foundation of intensive rice agronomy.

DEDICATION: This article is dedicated to Father Henri de Laulanie de Sainte-Croix, S.J., who taught me that humility precedes learning. This is not an easy lesson to master. Friar Laulanie (1920 – 1995) was the inventor of intensive rice cultivation = Systeme de Riziculture Intensive (SRI). I had the privilege of working with Friar Laulanie while he developed his new rice agronomy. My interest was in mechanized plantation agriculture while Father Laulanie was the champion of small field subsistence farmers. Consequently, we often approached problems from entirely different directions. I miss our lively correspondence and, especially, our friendly debates, most of which I lost. There is nothing quite like the experience of being steam rolled by the relentless logic of a Jesuit mind.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS: Chemical to Organic Rice Conversion Trials, Trino, Italy 2014 – 2019; Garden Rice Trials, Paia, Hawaii 1924 – 2020; Intensive Rice Culture Primer; Paddy Rice Agronomy Trials, Trino, Italy 1853 – 1910; Ratoon Rice Trials, Paia, Hawaii 1877 – 1924; Rice and Gram Polyculture, Pondicherry, India 1763 – 1865; Rice Polder Trial, Butler, Pennsylvania 1972; Rice Rotation Trial, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 1950 – 1973; Termite Mound Effects on Upland Rice Yields, Koh Kong, Cambodia 1955.

OTHER ARTICLES OF INTEREST: Wheat Agronomy Trials 2016 – 2020; Red Fife Winter Wheat Trials 1990 – 2009; Stomp Seeded Winter Barley Trials 2008 – 2017; Yield of Small Grains Surface Seeded into Standing Dutch White Clover; Maize and Kidney Bean Polyculture; No-Till Nankeen Cotton in Mulch-In-Place Palmer Amaranth; Growth Stimulation of Pea Nodules by Companion Oats; Oat, Pea, and Turnip Polyculture Trial; Hand Cultivated Maize versus Mexican Sunflower Mulch-In-Place; Upland versus Wadi Barley Cultivation in Morocco; Yield of Forest Rye Grown on Quarry Sand Terraces; Maize Polyculture Trial 2007 – 2016.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE? For more information on biological agriculture and intensive grain farming please visit: http://www.worldagriculturesolutions.com — or — mail your questions to: Eric Koperek, Editor, World Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania 15108 United States of America — or — send an e-mail to: worldagriculturesolutions@gmail.com.

Cornell University hosts a comprehensive SRI website at: http://www.sririce.org. E-Mail Address: sririce@cornell.edu.

The original SRI papers by Friar Laulanie are available both online and in the scientific journal Tropicultura: Technical Presentation of the System of Rice Intensification, Based on Katayama’s Tillering Model. Henri de Laulanie. 1993 Tropicultura 13 : 1. Intensive Rice Farming in Madagascar. Henri de Laulanie. 2011 Tropicultura 29 : 3 (183 – 198).

For more information on French Intensive Gardening read this classic work: Manuel Pratique de la Culture Maraichere de Paris. J.G. Moreau. 1845 Alex Richards, Paris. Reprinted in 2010 by Nabu Press. International Standard Book Number (ISBN): 978 114 387 662 2.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mr. Koperek is a plant breeder who farms in Pennsylvania during Summer and Florida over Winter. (Growing 2 generations yearly speeds development of new crop varieties).

INDEX TERMS: 5-10-5 (chemical fertilizer); Aerobic Compost; African Rice; Alternate Wetting and Drying (irrigation); Asian Rice; Beneficial Bacteria; Beneficial Microbes; Burlap Mulch; California Rice Farming; Compost Tea; Composted Hardwood Bark; Cover Crops; Cow Manure Compost; Direct Seeding; Drip Irrigation; Equidistant Spacing; Flame Weeding; Flood Irrigation; French Intensive Gardening; Fungal Dominant Compost; Hand Weeding; Henri de Laulanie (agronomist); Hills (for planting); Indian Rice; Intensive Rice Agronomy; Intensive Rice Culture; Intensive Rice Farming; Intensive Rice Growing; Japanese Rice; Lowland Rice; Low Temperature Compost; Manure Cubes; Manure Lagoon Water; Manure Pots; Manure Tea; Monsoon Rice; Mucuna utilis; Mulching; Mulch-In-Place; Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria; Organic Fertilizers; Organic Rice Farming; Oriental Rice; Oryza glaberrima; Oryza sativa indica; Oryza sativa japonica; Paddy Rice Cultivation; Phosphorus (fertilizer); Plant Density; Pre-Sprouting Seeds; Rice Tillering; Ridge and Furrow Irrigation; Seed Inoculation; Seed Priming; Sheet Irrigation; Sistema Intensivo de Cultivo Arrocero; Soil Aeration; Soil Depth; Soil Porosity; Sprinkler Irrigation; Subsoil Tillage; Symbiotic Fungi; System of Rice Intensification; Systeme de Riziculture Intensive; Transplanting; Upland Rice; Velvet Bean; Weed Control; West African Rice.

ORIGINAL PUBLICATION DATE: November 1981, Lime House, Dominica

UPDATE: July 2023, Homestead, Florida

Every once in a while folks prod me into writing editorials = expressions of personal opinion (as opposed to scientific fact). These missives are designed to provoke public discussion and research. Thoughtful responses are welcome.

High temperature composting = thermal composting is an “alien” technology inconsistent with the biology of this planet. Nature does not decompose organic matter at high temperatures. Natural decomposition processes ALWAYS occur at low = ambient temperatures. So why do Humans make great steaming compost heaps? Are we smarter than Mother Nature? I don’t think so.

Excepting the biology of volcanic springs, all natural chemistry on this planet takes place at low temperatures. Thermal processes are artificial creations. High temperature chemistry wastes vast amounts of energy. Ambient temperature biochemistry is energy efficient. Nature is a much better chemist than Man.

Is compost made at 165 degrees Fahrenheit “better” than the same materials decomposed at air temperature? Should wastes be piled up or spread out? Is there a difference in the biological or nutrient quality of the finished compost? Your guess is as good as mine. I have not been able to find any scientific papers on this topic. Until definitive research is published, I intend to keep my pitchfork in the shed. Mulching is easy. Turning compost piles is too much work.

POSTSCRIPT: Yes, I know about plant diseases, insect pests, parasites, and pathogenic bacteria, but Nature has a way of dealing with these problems. High temperature composting is a low-technology way to pasteurize potting soils for greenhouses, nurseries, mushroom farms and other specialty horticultural operations. Every year I use thousands of tons of thermal compost for reforestation projects, to fill raised beds for intensive vegetable production, and to inoculate mine sites and other barren lands without topsoil. So please don’t beat on me for being “Anti-Organic”, even though I also use hundreds of tons of chemical fertilizers annually. Compost or chemicals, I use what works best = “the right tool for every job”.

Is hot compost the right tool for every agricultural problem? I have managed commercial vegetable farms with nothing other than mulch, irrigation, and donkey carts. Crops were grown in raised beds. Wastes were thrown into the aisles to rot. Rough compost was forked up into the beds as needed. No hauling, shredding, piling, or turning needed. Try working a farm by hand and you might think differently about the necessity of large scale thermal composting. Low temperature decomposition = sheet composting = cold composting = mulching saves costly labor.

Conventional practice requires manure be composted before use. I have managed vegetable farms and tree nurseries where all plants were grown only in crumbled, dried cow manure — no composting necessary. So much for mindless obedience to the experts.

The next time someone says you MUST plow, spray, compost, or perform some other agronomic ritual, have a good think first. Do not be afraid to be contrarian. The “received wisdom of the ages” is often wrong.

Related Publications: Burbank’s Seed Germination Mix; Cow Manure Potting Soil; Dutch Potting Soil.

Would You Like To Know More? Please contact the Author directly if you have any questions or need additional information on composting or mulching.

Please visit: http://www.worldagriculturesolutions.com — or — Send your questions to: Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania, 15108 United States of America — or — send an e-mail to: Eric Koperek = erickoperek@gmail.com

About The Author: Mr. Koperek is a plant breeder who farms in Pennsylvania during the summer and Florida during the winter. (Growing 2 generations yearly speeds development of new crop varieties).

Index Terms: Aerobic Composting; Cold Composting; Compost; Compost-in-Place; Fungal Dominant Compost; Hot Composting; Low Temperature Composting; Mulching; Sheet Composting; Thermal Composting.

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Tag: Fungal Dominant Compost

FRENCH INTENSIVE RICE AGRONOMY 1930 – 1980

Hot Versus Cold Composting