Asynchronous rice planting is not hard to spot. In adjacent rice farms, just look for the field with different crop stages. Often, the gaps in crop stages between paddies are considerable.

Asynchronous planting oftentimes occur because farmers do not agree on a common planting schedule. This may either be due to the lack of any centralized and controlled irrigation facilities or lack of communication among farmers. When asynchronous planting is widely practiced, the occurrence of pests and plant diseases such as tungro are prevalent.  Rice experts agree that the best ways to control the spread of pest and diseases are as follows: practice synchronous planting, avoid planting rice three times a year,  and plant pest and disease-resistant rice varieties suited in the locality.