Ganghwa County Provides Guidance on Timely Rice Seedbed Installation for 'Premium Quality Ganghwa Island Rice'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Shin Eun-seop] Ganghwa County has designated April 25 to May 5 as the optimal period for rice seedbed installation and announced plans to provide active on-site guidance to ensure farmers complete seedbed installation within this timeframe.

The county emphasized that while recent weather conditions have shown temperatures higher than the seasonal average, prompting farmers to accelerate agricultural operations, timely farming is crucial for preventing cold damage and producing high-quality agricultural products.

Seedling cultivation requires 300 trays per hectare, with a seeding rate of 120-150 grams per tray to secure an appropriate number of seedlings. During the seedling cultivation period, proper temperature management is necessary to prevent hollow seedlings and seedling blight 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 then sprouted before sowing to effectively control rice bakanae disease.

Meanwhile, the county completed the supply of 205 tons of high-quality government-provided seeds produced by the National Institute of Crop Science and the Agricultural Technology Commercialization Foundation, as well as 9.6 tons of functional specialty rice including waxy rice, and estimates this year's rice seedbed installation area will reach 82 hectares.

An official from the county's Agricultural Technology Center stated, "Early seedbed installation may cause physiological disorders, so it is very important to install seedbeds at the optimal time to reduce the probability of failure."