Crop Genebank Knowledge Base

Articles

Storage in field banks (cultivated rice)

Contributors to this page: T.T. Chang Genetic Resources Centre-IRRI, Philippines (Ruaraidh Hamilton, Ken McNally, Flora de Guzman, Renato Reaño, Soccie Almazan, Adelaida Alcantara, Elizabeth Naredo); WARDA, Cotonou (Ines Sánchez); UPLB-University of the Philippines at Los Baños (Teresita Borromeo).

Storage specifications
Storage management

Provides guidelines and recommendations about the best practices for the daily management of genebanks, describing the most important procedures for storage in field genebanks for cultivated rice. Best practices are shown in a pale blue color with bullets. Justification for each best practice is given within brackets (…).

Storage specifications

Moisture-proof laminated aluminium foil packaging for active storage. (photo: IRRI)

Planting

Seeds should be germinated in flat seed boxes and transplanted to concrete beds after 21 days or when seedlings are vigorous enough and can withstand stress upon transplanting.
The concrete beds can be small 'field-like' lowland plots constructed inside the screenhouse, about 2.5m wide and 11m long, like the ones used at IRRI.

Before transplanting

Soil preparation can be done by a mechanical mini-hydrotiller after re-shoveling manually.
Use 500g of complete fertilizer mixed well with the soil as basal fertilizer application before final soil leveling and lay-out.

Transplanting

Transplant 2-3 seedlings per hill using 25cm spacing between hills and between rows, leaving one row vacant between entries in the lay-out.
For insufficient seedlings (1-3 seedlings), transplanting should be done in pots to ensure the continuous growth of the plant.
In these cases, additional care should be extended in plant maintenance, such that daily monitoring of plant health.

Field maintenance and management

Insecticide:

Spray a pre-emergence herbicide and a granular insecticide applying a day after transplanting.

Fertilizer:

Do a top dressing at 30 and 45 days after transplant with 350g and 300g of ammonium sulfate, respectively, for the indica and javanica types.
For the japonica types, top dressing should be done earlier at 10 and 20 days after transplanting because spikelet fertility is highly affected.

Irrigation:

Maintain the water level until panicle initiation. For the upland types, water should be withheld 30 days after transplant to provide drier soil conditions.

Pest and disease control:

Regular monitoring of pest and disease incidence should be coordinated with the plant health experts and specific control measures applied when needed.

Harvesting materials:

Panicle harvesting is observed for easy handling and verification.
Harvested panicles should be dried and kept in the drying room for 2 weeks before finally hand-threshing.

Storage management

System for tracking materials/inventory system during field bank storage

Use databases of stock and location (databases are needed to keep track of information).
Use pegs, tags or bar codes for labeling:
- Use impermeable ink and write clearly.
- Plots must be well labeled to avoid errors.
- Bar codes help avoid errors in recording.

Recording information during field bank storage

The following information should be recorded for each step:

Site name and map/GPS reference.
Name of collaborator.
Field bank site name (a code to identify the site location).
Plot reference (the plot number at the field site).
Accession number; population identification.
Name of staff (name of staff recording the data).
Method of planting, date and spacing.
Field layout used.
Field management details (watering, fertilizer, weeding, pest and disease control, stresses recorded, others).
Environmental conditions (altitude, precipitation, temperature, soil type and others).
Number of plants established.
Days from planting to flowering (note: this will only be important if seed collection is anticipated).
Harvest date and method.
Number of plants harvested.
Comparisons with reference materials (record any identification numbers or references of any samples taken from the plots).
Any evaluation undertaken during the growing period or at harvest.
Post harvest (describe any relevant procedures).
Others.