The company Agribio Conti was founded 45 years ago and is an entirely biological company that pays attention to cultivation practices, from sowing to irrigation to rotations and the use of precision tools. So Sebastiano Conti managed to grow organic rice dry in the plain of Catania

Dry technique:

The method applied is as follows: after mowing the sulla, a slight plowing is applied in the ground at a maximum depth of 15 cm at the end of April; At the beginning of May, the ground is leveled, using a laser leveler, with a slope of 0.02% to efficiently carry out sliding irrigation. The land is fertilized using organic manure self-produced on the farm. A precision air seeder is then used, with the tractor machine being equipped with a satellite device with intelligent guidance.

Subsequently, after sowing, drains are made, at a distance of 40 meters from each other, to facilitate the flow of water, considering that the various plots are over a kilometer long. It starts with the first irrigation, and then, based on the temperatures of the soil and the environment, it is decided how and when to administer more water; Usually about 6 irrigations are carried out throughout the cultivation cycle.

Many wonder how it is possible to grow rice in a land quite stingy with rainfall like Sicily, but it is precisely with this system of shifted sliding irrigation that about 60% less water is used than that used in the cultivation of rice in submersion.