Resource conservation through direct seeded rice
Chanan Singh Sran is following crop residue management, direct sowing of rice, organic farming, crop diversification, sowing of wheat with happy seeder, use of waste decomposer, soil testing and application of biofertilizer in different crops. He grows variety of crops such as wheat, paddy, basmati, pea, radish, carrot, turnip, cauliflower, winter maize, okra, etc. He is following direct seeded rice (DSR) practices since 2013 as per PAU recommendation and he also does DSR with lucky seeder. Chanan Singh seeks regular guidance from KVK experts on different aspect of crop production and visit KVK regularly. He also participated in different extension programmes organized by KVK time to time. Chanan Singh also follows a unique method of direct sowing i.e. field is well prepared following ploughing and planking (or laser levelled) at optimum moisture level. Furrows are made in the prepared field with the help of seed drill (without seed). The amount of seed per acre broadcasted is 6 kg in 2 directions (3 kg in N-S & 3 kg in E-W direction) followed by light planking over the broadcasted seed. Seed was germinated in furrows. By this technique, there is saving of 2 kg seed per acre in DSR. He obtained paddy yield approximately similar to transplanted rice and also there is lot of saving of irrigation water. He is getting 69-70 q ha-1 paddy yields as compared to 70 q yield by transplanted method. However, by following DSR he is directly saving the cost of labour for transplanting purpose, besides, saving water resources and time. Thus, he is earning good returns (Rs. 88,282/-) as compared to transplanted one (Rs. 83,950/-) by saving cost on labour and other resources.
In this way, by adopting direct seeding of rice, he is gaining higher net returns and B:C ratio to the extent of 5.2 and 13.2%, respectively over conventional farmers’ practice of paddy transplanting. After getting good results of DSR, this young farmer is also motivating and guiding many youths and his fellow farmers to adopt DSR technique to get handsome returns along with saving of water resources.
