With the introduction of the System of Rice Intensification method, usage of water as well as seed will be limited, while rice output would be high in Andhra Pradesh In a bid to cater to consumer requirement in Andhra Pradesh (AP), the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) would be promoting the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method to improve rice cultivation.
It is planning to promote the SRI method with the aid of one lakh farmers in India. This will help NABARD to bring about awareness among farmers about the advantages of the new method as well as help in water conservation, which is one of the key natural resources required for crop production.
Advantages of SRI method
In an exclusive interview with a FoodProcessing360 correspondent, Dr T K Adhya, director of Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), Cuttack, explains how SRI is an effective crop management technology for improving rice yield. He says, “With the implementation of SRI, the seed requirement would be less as compared to the traditional method of rice cultivation. In this method, 7-day old seedlings are used instead of more than 3-4 weeks old seedlings, which facilitates higher yield of rice. Moreover, this method requires limited water for paddy cultivation and continuous flooding of the field is also not required. Therefore, around 20-25% of water used for rice cultivation can be saved and utilised to irrigate larger tracts of land.”
 The benefits of the SRI method have also been highlighted by Dr Loganandhan, visiting scientist of WWF Project at ICRISAT, Patancheru, AP, when he was contacted by a FoodProcessing360 correspondent. According to him, “SRI method would increase rice yield by 50% using very low seed rate of 5 kg per hectare. Also, wide spacing (25X25 cm between rows) between seedlings would provide sufficient sunlight to the crops, thereby lowering pest attacks to a large extent.” Mr Loganandhan further added that the SRI method would replace manual weeding with mechanical weeding, which can be undertaken by using machines called Cono and Mandava weeders, thereby increasing aeration at root zone. On the whole, reduced seedling requirement as well as labour will reduce the overall cost of rice cultivation. Therefore, by adopting the SRI method there would be easy availability of rice at reasonable rates, which acts as a staple food for majority of the Indian population.
Sabrina Mitchell |
