Context- Due to delays in the arrival of rain and a lack of labor, farmers in several major rice-growing states are switching to direct seeding.
Key Highlights Regarding direct rice seeding
- It is also known as the “broadcasting seed technique” and uses less water to sow paddy,
- In this method, seeds are directly drilled into the fields.
- Farmers are able to continue sowing the seeds without having to wait for rain or spend a month growing and planting paddy nurseries, both of which require a lot of manpower.
What distinguishes DSR from conventional paddy transplantation?
- Farmers set up nurseries for transplanting paddy plants, where the seeds are first sown and raised into young plants. After that, these seedlings are uprooted and replanted in the main field 25 to 35 days later. The nursery seed bed occupies 5-10% of the transplanted area.
- Nursery preparation and transplantation are not performed in DSR. Instead, a machine powered by a tractor drills the seeds directly into the ground.
- In contrast to the traditional, water-intensive method of transplanting rice seedlings from a nursery to waterlogged fields, DSR conserves groundwater.
- In DSR, real chemical herbicides take the place of water. It is only necessary for farmers to level their land and provide one pre-sowing irrigation.
Benefits and Need
- Farmers can save time using direct-seeding because the initial growth would require significantly less water than with traditional sowing.
- Because it requires less labor than the standard approach, it is intended to be cost-effective.
- minimal alteration to the structure of the soil.
Obstacles
- The problem of weeds beginning to grow alongside Paddy is the direct-seeding method’s biggest obstacle.
- DSR also requires more seeds than transplanting does.
Initiatives
- A “Lucky Seed Drill” developed by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana can simultaneously spray herbicides and sow seeds to control weeds.
- This machine is not the same as the more well-known “Happy Seeder,” which is used to directly sow wheat in paddy fields that have been harvested with a combine and contain leftover stubble and loose straw.
Way Ahead
- The DSR method of paddy cultivation is steadily gaining ground among farmers in the traditional paddy-growing areas of the district, particularly in the aftermath of the lockdown. The Agriculture Department has launched an awareness campaign to educate farmers on the numerous benefits of the DSR technology.
- For paddy crops, this is the way forward.
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