The soil is prepared for sowing in spring.

This process starts off with ploughing: fresh clods are brought to the surface, then crumbled and levelled with a harrow. Then the soil is given the nutritional substances that are indispensable for plants to grow.
At this stage, the soil is ready to be watered. The water is taken from rivers and introduced through a special ducting system.

In Italy, unlike certain areas in Africa or Asia, rice cultivation requires flooded crop fields, which are indispensable to defend the seeds and seedlings against the cold night-time temperatures.
In fact, dry sowing in Italy only accounts for 10% of total production and requires constant irrigation cycles after 10 - 15 days.

Italian rice fields are located in flat areas. The absence of any slope means that flooding is possible and enables constant monitoring of the water level, which only stops at the time of harvest.
Now the rice field is ready for sowing, an activity that takes place during the months of April and May.
In June, the weeding process begins: the weeds which deprive the rice of nourishment are removed. In August, the rice plant reaches maturity: the sheath of the leaves reveals the head, which is ready for harvest between September and October.
Modern combine harvesters now make the harvesting of coarse rice extremely rapid and safe, and the rice is subsequently dried to remove any excess moisture.

This phase, which in the past was carried out in farmyards and took two to three days, is now dealt with using sophisticated machinery, which performs the same operations in a few hours.