When to plant Rice in Icolo e Bengo

Luanda, Angola

Known here as arroz

Rice is a grass that lives on water.

Rice in Icolo e Bengo, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure	Rain-fed	With irrigation
Fit	Favourable
When to plant	20 Dec 2026 – 18 Feb 2027 opens in 12 weeks	21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027
Expected harvest	about 4.5 t/ha	about 6.3 t/ha
Harvest	From 20 Mar 2027 to 18 Jul 2027, depending on the planting date
Ready to harvest	90–150 days after planting
Work it takes	69–107 days per hectare, by hand

Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.

If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 29 Jan 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Icolo e Bengo is close to normal, so these dates match the pattern the area usually follows.

Planting after 18 Feb 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Icolo e Bengo

Rain and temperature	96%
The soil	96%
The lie of the land	60%

For rice in Icolo e Bengo, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 60%. You cannot flatten it, but you can farm it: plant along the contour rather than up and down, ridge or tie ridges to hold water on the slope, and expect shallower rooting than the crop would manage on flat ground.

The 2026/27 season in Icolo e Bengo

Rainy seasons	One each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it
When the rains are expected	October 2026 to June 2027
Rain in a typical year	About 852 mm
This season's rain	Rain close to usual — plan around about 852 mm falling roughly when it always does
This season's heat	Hotter than usual — about +0.7 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can.
What that supports	enough rain for one full main crop, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season
Ground this covers	One kind of ground throughout.

last updated 16 September 2026

What rice needs to grow here

Soil it likes	loam, clay loam or clay
Soil sourness (pH)	Happiest between pH 5.5 and 7.0
Spacing	20 cm between rows, 20 cm between plants
Feed it most with	nitrogen and zinc

What it takes to grow rice in Icolo e Bengo

Planting material	About 600,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)	About 68 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)	About 22 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)	About 99 kg per hectare
In the shops	A basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. A nitrogen top dressing — urea or AN — goes on once the crop is established.
Hand work	69–107 days per hectare, by hand

These are the nutrients a rice crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.

What to watch for

Pest/disease risk — manageable

Grow Rice with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Icolo e Bengo as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.

Or check your field first

Rice in nearby districts

How to grow Rice, step by step Land preparation to harvest — every task, in order

Frequently asked questions

Will rice grow well in Icolo e Bengo?

Icolo e Bengo rates as favourable for rice.

When should I plant rice in Icolo e Bengo?

Typically 20 Dec 2026 to 18 Feb 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Icolo e Bengo, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.