ORYZA 



SATIVA 



Burma 



Preparation. 



Hot 



Season. 



Coorg. 



Seasons. 



Burma. 



Areas. 



Baces. 



Production. 

 Best Soils. 

 Methods. 



THE RICE PLANT 



eight weeks commencing about 15th May, and all the while inundated. 

 The manure is given before the fourth ploughing. The mud is then smoothed 

 and the seedlings transplanted into it, about 3 to 5 being stuck together 

 in the mud at about a span distant from the next clump. The water is 

 let off for a day, but afterwards the field is constantly inundated till 

 the grain is ripe. In nirdgi, the ground is ploughed three times in February- 

 March while it is dry. About the middle of May the field is inundated, and 

 in the course of 15 days ploughed four times. After the fourth ploughing 

 the mud is smoothed, the seed sown thickly and dung sprinkled over 

 the surface, and the water let off. On the 3rd, 6th and 9th days water 

 is again given, but must not stagnate. After the 12th day, inundation 

 is commenced, and continued till the seedlings are fit for removal 30 days 

 after sowing. The cultivation of the field into which the seedlings are 

 transplanted is exactly the same as for dry seedlings. Various pulses 

 are sown in the fields that are to ripen the transplanted crop, and are 

 cut down immediately before ploughing for rice commences. 



Kdr (or karu) crops (hot weather) are divided into three kinds according 

 to the time of sowing. When the farm is properly stocked, the seed is sown 

 at the most favourable season, and is called kumba kdr ; but if there be a 

 want of hands or of cattle, part of the seed is sown earlier and part later 

 than in the proper season. When sown too early it is called tula kdr ; when 

 too late, mesha kdr. The three methods of cultivation described above 

 for the hain crop, viz. by dry seed, germinated seed, and transplantation, 

 are found here also, except that in the case of tula kdr no dry seed is ever 

 sown. 



In Coorg there is annually but one rice crop, except in a few valleys 

 in the north. The rice cultivated throughout Coorg and in general use 

 is the large-grained dodda-batta. A finer kind is the small rice sanna-batta, 

 and a red variety the kesari. For parched rice the kalame is the kind used. 

 The seed is sown in a nursery, and in 20 or 30 days the seedlings are ready 

 for transplanting, which takes place in July and August, regulated by 

 the monsoon. The crop is cut in November or December. [C/. Rice, 

 Mysore Gaz., 1897, i., 131-44, 217-8 ; ii., 317-8, 328, 563-4.] - 



Burma. The area in 1905-6 was 9,283,801 acres. The districts of 

 importance are, in Upper Burma : Shewbo, 365,107 acres ; Yamethin, 

 225,170 acres; Upper Chindwin, 160,783 acres; and Kathu, 159,596 acres. 

 In Lower Burma : Hanthawaddy, 1,114,359 acres ; Thongwa, 843,840 

 acres; Pegu, 778,372 acres; Akyab, 599,880 acres; Thaton, 563,973 acres ; 

 Bassein, 536,720 acres ; and Myaungmya, 518,508 acres. The crop is 

 divided into three main classes : kaukkyi or late-rain paddy ; kaukyin or 

 early-rain paddy ; and mayin or dry- weather paddy. Kaukkyi is said to 

 occupy the largest area, viz. in 1904-5, 8,833,716 acres ; kaukyin next with 

 332,117 acres; then mayin with 99,631 acres. The Final General Memo- 

 randum of the Commercial Intelligence Department estimates the area in 

 1906-7 at 6,988,500 acres. The yield was given as 96 per cent, of normal, 

 and the surplus available for export was 2,374,000 tons cargo rice, equiva- 

 lent to 40,237,000 cwt. cleaned rice. 



Methods of Cultivation. The most fertile land, where the largest amount 

 and the best quality is grown, is found in the delta of the Irrawaddy. 

 There are five methods of raising the crop, practised in different 

 parts of the country : (1) On the ordinary swamp land in low-lying 

 plains where the rainfall is sufficient ; (2) on level land from which the 



