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The System of Rice Intensification in Jharkhand and Bihar. Bringing new perspectives to the search for household food security _______ _____ NEEDS www.needsngo.in. SRI paddy cultivation, experiences, 2005 to 2007. A Presentation on. The shift: a glimpse.
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The System of Rice Intensificationin Jharkhand and Bihar Bringing new perspectives to the search for household food security _______ _____ NEEDS www.needsngo.in
SRI paddy cultivation, experiences, 2005 to 2007 A Presentation on
The shift: a glimpse • 53 farm families harvesting rice for only 5-7 months consumption are now harvesting 14-18 months’ worth of rice from a single crop in the same piece of land • Food security level of over 1000 families has increased, and these families are now able to take risks in diversified livelihoods [so financial inclusion is taking place]
Jharkhand District: Deoghar Block: Sarwa Coverage of villages: 41 Bihar District: Banka Block: Chandan Coverage of villages: 16 System of Rice Intensification
System of Rice Intensification • Total coverage of farmers : 1030 • Total coverage of area (hectares): 430 • Maximum yield (ha) : 12.9 MT • Minimum yield (Kg / ha) : 6.2 MT
Farmer’s name : Sh. Rajeshwar Village : Bichgarha Panchayat : Sarwa Area : 10 decimals (0.1 ha) Variety : MTU-7029Block : Sarwa District : Deoghar System of Rice Intensification: A Case
SRI Traditional
Comparison of SRI and TraditionalPaddy Cultivation Farmer’s name : Sh. Rajeshwar Village : Bichgarha Panchayat : Sarwa Area : 10 decimals (0.1 ha) Variety : MTU-7029Block : Sarwan District : Deoghar
Learning: • Boro rice cultivation was experimented first time in Jharkhand during summer 2007 on 7 acres area, the result was excellent; the yield recorded (11.9 MT/ha) was over 3 times of their normal yield • Medium and upper-medium lowlands are suitable for SRI cultivation. Lowlands, where water drainage is not quick, yield less • The water percolation /drainage rate in upper-medium lowlands in Jharkhand is high, hence farmers require some reserve water for drying and soaking
Learning: • We registered a high yield, up to 12.9 MT per hectare, because of high tillering; 109 tillers as a maximum against 18-20 tillers maximum in conventional practice • In the summer crop, we registered 11.9 MT yield as against 3.3 MT per hectare; the practice was conducted with 30 farmers in a cluster of 7 acres last summer • Weeding is a critical input required in SRI; the better the drying and soaking is practiced, the higher is the weeding required to get highest yield. • We introduced rotary weeder and cono-weeder to make weeding an easy intervention, which helped a lot. However, farmers are reluctant to practice as many as 5 weedings.
Learning: • Seed quality must be good as fewer seeds are used. However, HYV variety of seed may not required for SRI as local seeds have shown outstanding results in terms of both quantity and quality • It is important that we work on producing good quality local seeds through SRI methods so that control over seeds remains with farmers locally • This would ensure that marginalized farmers have assured access to good seeds. This would also have an impact on household food security
The critical areas of PoP: • Water management: alternatively drying and soaking the soil • Age and quality of seedlings for transplantation: two-leaf stage • 4-5 weedings • Potassium split-dose for stem borer control
Challenge: • Soil nutrient management • Huge biomass production with SRI extracts maximum nutrients from the soil • Hence, green manuring is important
Challenges: • Weeding – timeliness and frequency; access to weeders • Water harvesting with paddy – to ensure reliable supply
We got good results from: • Pre-sowing green manure • Cowpea and Cassia species • Dhaincha • Post-harvest green manure • Niger and Cosks comb can be a good post- harvest green manure / rich in potash
Conclusion: • SRI can be an answer to household food security for marginalized farm households • SRI cannot be a package but is a dynamic practice, requiring regional variance per temperature, pest types, in terms of water management, etc. • States like Jharkhand require large-scale, area-based NGO interventions to influence Govt. institutions to bring more opportunities to marginalized communities
We express our gratitude to SDTT for their support in scaling up SRI in the state of Jharkhand Thank you