Rice as an alternative crop in the Santa Lucia region of the Atlantico, no. 3 irrigation district

A FIELD STUDY OF THE HEAVY SOILS OF THE MALAMBITO EXPERIMENT STATION OF THE COLOMBIAN AGARAIAN REFORM INSTITUTE WAS MADE TO EVALUATE IRRIGATED RICE AS AN ALTERNATIVE CROP FOR THIS ZONE. UNIFORM, VIGOROUS STRANDS OF RICE WERE PRODUCED IN TWO PRELIMINARY TESTS, AND RICE APPEARED MUCH BETTER ADAPTED TO MALAMBITO SOIL CONDITIONS THAN CORN, COTTON, SESAME, OR SORGHUM WHEN TESTED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THEM. YIELDS OF RICE PRODUCED UNDER UPLAND AND INUNDATION WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS WERE MEASURED AT 3951 AND 7302 KG/HA, RESPECTIVELY. MORE GRAIN WAS OBTAINED FROM CONTROL PLOTS (NO NITROGEN) OR PLOTS TO WHICH 75 KG/HA HAD BEEN APPLIED THAN FROM PLOTS WHICH HAD RECEIVED 225 KG/HA OF NITROGEN, REGARDLESS OF IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT. SMALL AREAS CONTAINING STUNTED PLANTS WERE OBSERVED IN SOME OF THE UPLAND PLOTS BUT NOT IN THE INUNDATION PLOTS. ROOT DEPTHS WERE CONSIDERED SHALLOW FOR ALL TREATMENTS ALTHOUGH SLIGHTLY INCREASED WHERE FLOOD IRRIGATION WAS UTILIZED. DATA FROM THIS STUDY INDICATE THAT CICA 4 RICE COULD BE A PROFITABLE ALTERNATIVE TO THOSE CROPS CURRENTLY GROWN IN THE SANTA LUCIA REGION. FURTHER RESEARCH ON RICE ADAPTABILITY TO THE SOILS, IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY, AND DRAINAGE CONTROL SHOULD BE CONDUCTED.