Variety	Description	Yield
Shahsarang-1	A medium duration (150 days) variety, Suitable for lowlands in mid altitude areas. Semi glutinous in nature. Resistant to iron toxicity	4.2 -4.5 t/ha
IR 64	Short duration variety. Can be grown in pre-kharif season.	2.0 -3.0 t/ha
Vivekdhan 82	Pre-kharif short duration variety
Lumpnah	A medium duration variety, glutinous, tolerant to blast. Suitable for lowlands in mid altitude areas.	4.2 -4.5 t/ha
Megha SA 2	Recommended for mid altitude rainfed areas upto 1000 above MSL. Resistant to blast and is non lodging. Maintains moderate aroma when grown in hills. Its duration is 149-155 days.	3.2 -3.8 t/ha
RC Maniphou4 ,5&6	Grains medium fine, non-aromatic. Recommended for early kharif (sown in June) in mid-altitude lowland areas	4.5-5.0 t/ha
NEH Megha Rice 1, 2 & 3	Cold tolerant and dwarf variety. Grains are medium bold and the meet quality standards for export quality japonica rice. Suitable for high altitude areas of Meghalaya.	2.5 – 3.5t/ha

Dry nursery: Prepare nursery beds, each of length 10m and width 1.00m. Gap of 30 cm in between beds all around for irrigation, drainage and easy movement. Plough or hoe two or three times at intervals of four to five days on receipt of first showers to a get a fine tilth. For transplanting one hectare land, a nursery area of 600-700 sq.m. would be sufficient.
Wet nursery:This type of seed bed can be done under plain valley land condition in walong area. Level the field perfectly after final puddling and prepare beds of 1-1.5m width and of convenient length, leaving 30 cm channel in between two beds. Total nursery area should be 10% of the main field (1000 sq.m. for planting I hectare land).

For higher productivity and quality produce, use certified seeds once in three years. Use only well filled and heavy grains. Prepare brine solution (15%) by mixing 1.5 kg edible salt (NaCl) in 10 litres of water in a bucket. Now immerse the seed in salt water. Seeds floating on the surface of the solution are removed. Collect heavy settled grains and wash thoroughly with fresh water and soak the seed for 24 hours. It also helps to reduce blast infection to some extent. Dry the soaked seed for sometime in shade. To protect the rice plant from blast and other fungal diseases treat the seed with Carbendazim (Bavistin, Topsin etc.) @ 2g/kg rice seed and kept overnight before sowing in the nursery.

Well germinated seeds are to be sown at the rate of 650-700 g per 10 sq.m bed area. Seeds are sown by broadcasting method and covered them with thin layer of soil and cowdung mixture (1:1). Water the seedbed regularly to keep them under moist condition. Weeding should be done once or twice depending upon the growth of weeds. After sowing, use plant protection measures to control blast by using Bavistin @ 1gm/lit or Hinosam @ 1ml/lit of water as soon as one or two blast spots are seen. The seedlings will be ready after 20-25 days after sowing (DAS). At the time of uprooting of seedlings, the nursery bed should be sufficiently wet to avoid root damage. The seedlings can be transplanted in the main field as per the following table.

Sl. no.	Duration of Variety	Age of seedlings (In Days)
1	Short and Medium duration varieties (upto 120 days)	20-25
2	Medium to Long duration varieties (120-130 days)	25-30
3	Long duration varieties(130-160 days)	30-40

Prepare the field thoroughly to a depth of 15 cm with the help of plough/power tiller/spade.Two to three ploughing should be done followed by puddling and leveling. Puddling and good levelling is necessary for efficient water management, encourage quick establishment and profused tillering. Apply well decomposed PYM (5 t/ha) after the first ploughing. All the phosphorous, potassium and 50 % of nitrogen should be applied after last puddling.

The optimum time of transplanting is first fortnight of July for low and mid altitude. In high altitude transplanting should be done before 15th June. Transplant the seedlings when they are5 at 3 to 4 leaf stage. Transplant the seedlings (20-25 days old) @ 3 to 4 seedlings per hill at 5 to 6 cm depth at a spacing of 20 x 15 cm for timely transplanting. For late transplanting, use more number of seedlings (4-6/hill) and reduce the spacing to 20 x 10 cm or 15 x 10cm. Line transplanting with the help of pre-marked rope or bamboo pieces is desirable to run cono-weeder in later stages.

Nutrient	Duration of Variety	Fertilizer dose (kg/ha) Basal 1st split(30DAS) 2nd split (60DAS)
N (80 kg/ha)	Urea	87 kg 43.5 kg 43.5 kg
P2O5 (60 kg/ha)	Single super phosphate(SSP)	375 kg
K2O (40 kg/ha)	Long duration varieties(130-160 days)	67 kg

Re-planting of dead hills should be done within 7-10 days of transplanting with seedlings of the same age.

Water should be maintained up to a depth of 5cms right from one week after transplanting till two to three weeks before harvest. It should be noted that if irrigation facilities are available, water may be drained out from the field before broadcasting of fertilizers during atop dressing. This is done to avoid undue loss of fertilizer due to runoff. The field may again be irrigated 2 to 3 days after atop dressing.

Use cono-weeder in criss cross direction for 2 times( 25 DAT and 50 DAT)
Two hand weeding is recommended (25 DAT & 45 DAT) in the absence of any herbicide or conoweeder availability.
Selective herbicides like Benthiocarb 50 EC @3.0 litres/ha or Anilophos 30 EC @ 1.0 litre/ha can be used one to two days after rice sowing.
2-4 D can be applied @2.5 kg/ha to control the Cyperus (mootha) and broadleaf weeds after three weeks of transplanting.

Harvest the crop when 5-10% of the grains at the bottom of the panicle are still to dry but the rest of the grains on the panicle are fully matured.
Harvested by sickle 15-25 cm above ground level.
Packed in bundles then dried in the field.
Threshing by hand or paddy thresher or mechanized thresher.

Gradual drying of paddy should be done in sunlight to bring the moisture level to less than 12-13% for better milling and storage of the produce. Store paddy in proper storage structures after adequate drying. Take precautions to avoid infestation by the the stored grain insects and the fungal infections. Use of locally available organic insect repellants like neem leaf etc. so as to prevent damage from insect and rats are also suggested.

It is advised to grow pea, frencbean, lentil, toria and other vegetables in rice fallows.
Pea, lentil and toria should be sown immediately after harvesting of rice under zero tillage condition (opening a very small furrow between two rice lines followed by placement of seed and covering)