Rice
Maximise your yield & cut your operating costs with Sky Terra
Rice is all about water management, timing, and clean, even establishment and that’s exactly where Sky Terra can lend a hand. We understand how quickly rice paddies can shift with weather, water depth, and canopy growth, and how important it is to stay ahead of pests, nitrogen, and disease pressure.
Our drones put product down evenly across wet or soft paddies with no need to drain water or wait for ground rigs. No ruts, no damage to banks, and no delays after rain—we can get across the field when machinery can’t.
We handle early nutrition, broadleaf and grass work, insect control, and late-season foliar sprays with accuracy and repeatability. Every pass is GPS-guided, giving consistent coverage from levee to levee.
We also run multispectral monitoring to pick up early stress—waterlogging, shallow spots, nutrient issues, patchy germination, or insect pressure—so you can fix problems early and protect yield.
It’s a clean, low-impact way to stay on top of crop health, keep your timings sharp, and help your rice crop finish strong all the way through to harvest.
Book Your Application or Season Package
Ready to book your rice spray application? Our drones deliver clean, even coverage across wet or soft paddies perfect for nutrition, weed work, and insect control without draining water or damaging banks.
Field Prep to Harvest
Rice Growth Stages & Spray Passes (Simple Guide)
(Approx. 3–7 spray applications per season depending on pests, weeds, and disease pressure)
- Field Preparation
– Paddies levelled, banks repaired, weeds controlled, water managed.
– Knockdown herbicides applied here (Pass 1).
- Planting (Sowing)
– Seed sown into prepared bays (dry, wet, or aerial).
– Pre-emergent herbicide often applied (Pass 2).
- Emergence & Early Seedling Stage
– Seedlings establish and begin tillering.
– Early insect control if pressure appears (Pass 3 – optional).
– Foliar nutrition if required.
- Tillering
– Plants multiply shoots; canopy builds across water surface.
– Selective herbicide for grass/weeds in water (Pass 4 – common).
– Fungicide in high-disease-pressure seasons (optional).
- Stem Elongation (Jointing)
– Plants stretch; root system strengthens.
– Nutrition and insect sprays depending on pressure (Pass 5 – optional).
- Panicle Initiation
– The head begins forming inside the stem.
– Key window for nutrition to support grain potential.
– Fungicide if disease pressure is building (Pass 6 – optional).
- Booting & Heading
– Heads push up and emerge from the sheath.
– Insect control (e.g., stem borers/armyworms) if needed (Pass 7 – optional).
– Fungicide before flowering in high-risk seasons.
- Flowering (Anthesis)
– Pollination occurs; crop highly sensitive to stress.
– Limited spraying—only targeted insect work if essential.
- Grain Fill
– Kernels fill and harden.
– Late nutrition passes in some programs.
– Fungicide applied only in high-pressure seasons (optional).
- Ripening
– Crop changes colour; moisture drops ready for harvest.
– No spray passes here.
- Harvest
– Water drained; combine harvesters remove grain.
– No sprays at this stage.
Typical Total Spray Count:
3–7 applications per season
(up to 8 in wet or high-disease years)
Please refer to the disclaimer page before considering this information.
