Divisi
How to grow Rice
Oryza sativa · Poaceae
Photo: Haumbaeric · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rice is a grass that lives on water. Unlike your other crops, it thrives with its feet wet. Many farmers grow it in flooded fields — paddy (lowland) — held by low mud walls called bunds; others grow it rain-fed on ordinary dry land — upland — with no standing water, much like maize. Both are the same plant: it sprouts, throws side-shoots called tillers that each carry a head of grain (a panicle), flowers, then fills and ripens golden. This guide covers both ways. Where they differ — how you plant, how you water, how you weed — it tells you clearly which path to follow, so you can run whichever one fits your land.
Hajia Hijjah · CC BY-SA 4.0 
Photobyamin · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Days to maturity
- 90–150 days
- Row spacing
- 20 cm
- Plant spacing in the row
- 20 cm
- Sowing depth
- 2–3 cm
These are general figures for the crop, compiled from published agronomic references including FAO and CABI. The right choice for your field depends on your soil, rainfall and the yield you are aiming for.
Will rice actually do well on your land? Check your field against every crop in the catalogue — free, no signup. Run the free crop check →
Other names for Rice
rys · rice · paddy · riz · shinkafa · ilayisi · mpunga · arroz · mchele
Working in buckets, bags or paces? The farming glossary turns the measures growers actually use into kilograms and hectares — what a 20 litre bucket of each crop really weighs, and how to size a field by walking it — alongside the Shona, Swahili, Ndebele and Yoruba words used in the field. Open the glossary →
Growing rice, stage by stage
Your rice season, step by step — whether you flood a paddy or grow it rain-fed on dry land — from readying the field and water, through planting, feeding and keeping the water right, to drying and storing every grain.
- Get your field, water and seed ready
- Plant and get a strong, even stand
- Tillering — grow the heads, beat the weeds
- Panicle to flowering — the make-or-break window
- Fill the grain and guard it to the finish
- Harvest — cut and thresh on time
- Dry hard and store safe
22 step-by-step tasks in the app
Every task for rice — what to do, when to do it and why it matters — with the amounts worked out for your own field, reminders as each one falls due, and warnings before extreme weather.
Pests and diseases that attack rice
10 more threats tracked in the app
Divisi tells you which of these is a risk on your rice right now, when to walk the field looking for it, and what to do the moment you find it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does rice take to grow?
Rice takes about 90–150 days from sowing to maturity, though the exact length varies with variety, temperature and how the season runs.
What spacing should I use for rice?
Space rice rows about 20 cm apart, with roughly 20 cm between plants within the row.
How deep should rice be planted?
Sow rice at about 2–3 cm deep. Shallower risks drying out; deeper wastes seed energy before the shoot reaches light.
What pests and diseases attack rice?
The ones covered in this guide are African armyworm, Angoumois grain moth, Bacterial blight. Each has its own page explaining how to identify, scout for and control it.
Grow rice with a plan, not a guess
Divisi turns this guide into a dated plan for your own field — what to do each week, reminders as tasks fall due, and warnings before extreme weather. Free for farmers, works offline.
Or check your field first