Most farmers save their own rice seeds for the following year. But they have to store it properly to keep it healthy and at high quality.
Seeds are alive. For a good harvest, start with planting healthy seeds. Air and moisture will damage the seeds. When they are not stored the right way, they become soft, hot and moist and therefore can be attacked by diseases and pests. When you keep the container on the soil, the seeds at the bottom will be moist, mouldy and discoloured.
Storing rice seed
Select and harvest good panicles. Tresh and dry them. To see how dry they are, you can bite on them with your teeth. Wash, clean and dry the container, so that it is free from insects and their eggs. You can storage them in plastic pots, thin containers and drums.
You could also store the seeds in earthen pots, as long as you will keep them away from air. Air can come through the lid but also from small holes in the pot. With painting you can remove the small holes. Get painting colour from the hardware store or use varnish or tar. You could also protect the surface with using cooking oil instead of paint. Make sure to always paint from inside and outside.
Some women put burning candles in the inside of the pot and put the lid on it. The candle will burn as long as their is oxygen. Insects need air to breath, reproduce and destroying the rice, so with the candle all insects die.
Fill the container with dry seeds up to the top. If you have not enough rice you can also use puffed rice or dried sand to take away any air space. Now add dry bishkatali, neem or tobacco leaves, to banish any insects. Close the lid tightly, so that no air get inside.
