It is the time of weed removing in the Albufera of Valencia
In Tartana Rice, weeding consists of removing all kinds of weeds by hand: “serreig”, “red rice2, “edge rice”, “sedge”, “punxó” … that appear in the field during rice cultivation and compete biologically with it: through space, organic matter …
In a weed-infested field, rice production decreases because there is less space for it to grow; In addition, a whole series of impurities would appear, among others, seeds of these weeds, which infect the crop when it is harvested. To obtain the best quality of rice, it is necessary to harvest it without any type of impurities, which can contaminate the final product.
To guarantee a completely clean rice of weed impurities and chemical residues, manual weeding should be carried out during the month of July, when the ear of rice has not grown yet. Later in August it cannot be done, as it would break the rice spikes. Weeding, replace herbicides.
Crews of “birbadors”, formerly Valencians, and from various parts of Spain, currently, come mostly from other parts of the world, they go through the fields of Tartana Rice, mowing all those weeds, which contaminate the rice fields.
The crews are prepared with pants and long shirts / shirts, gloves and booties, to protect themselves from the scratches caused by the rice plants, which cut and are harmful to the skin. The straw hat or cap is mandatory to protect them from the sun.
Article written by Juan Carlos GALBIS -Master of rice masters-, José ZAFRA, -passionate about rice- y Juan Valero -Gerente de ARROZ TARTANA-.
Sembramos #culturadearroz