Ganghwa County Guides Timely Seedbed Installation for 'Premium Quality Ganghwa Island Rice'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Shin Eun-seop] Ganghwa County has designated the period from the 25th to next month 5th as the timely seedbed installation period and decided to provide active on-site guidance to enable seedbed installation completion within this timeframe.

The county emphasized that while recent weather conditions have shown higher than average temperatures, leading farmers to accelerate farming schedules, timely farming practices are important for preventing low-temperature damage and producing high-quality agricultural products.

Seedling cultivation requires securing appropriate seedling numbers at 300 boxes per hectare, with a seeding rate of 120-150g per box. During the seedling cultivation period, proper temperature management must be maintained to prevent temperature-induced seedling failures and pre-emergence damping-off caused by high temperatures.

Additionally, rice seeds should be disinfected in 30℃ water for 48 hours, or alternatively disinfected in 60℃ water for 10 minutes using a rice seed hot water disinfection machine, followed by cold water treatment and germination before seeding to be effective in controlling rice bakanae disease, the county added.

Meanwhile, the county completed the supply last month of 205 tons of quality government-supplied seeds produced by the National Institute of Crop Science and Rural Development Administration, and 9.6 tons of specialty functional rice such as aromatic rice. The expected seedbed installation area this year is estimated to be 82 hectares.

An official from the County Agriculture Technology Center said, "If seedbeds are installed too early, concerns arise about physiological disorders, so it is very important to install seedbeds at the appropriate time to reduce the failure rate."