So shall you reap: new tech sows a seed for larger rice harvest

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chennai: Farmers in India will be able to meet the target of paddy harvest by 2025 with the widespread implementation of the System of Paddy Intensification (SRI) technique that promises more harvest with lesser inputs. Implementating the SRI method in at least 25% of irrigated area in India will increase paddy harvest by 20 mt while cutting down on water consumption by 25%, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) vice-chancellor C Ramasamy said in a paper presented at a recent conference on SRI at the university.

System of Paddy Intensification (SRI), a methodology doubling the paddy yield, was first developed in Madagaskar, Africa, by a Jesuit priest in the 1980s.

SRI uses less external inputs, 2 kg seed for an acre, instead of 20 kg an acre, fewer plants per unit (25x25 cm), 40% to 50% less water and less fertilisers and plant protection chemicals. The yield increase is 2-3 times more than the normal.

The production using SRI leads to a dramatic increase in paddy harvest, of seven to eight tonne per hectare, nearly double the present world average of 3.8 tonne.

According to Ramasamy, “India’s target to produce 140 million tonne paddy by 2025 can be achieved by increasing its production by over two million tonne a year through the implementation of SRI’’.

The technology has being tried out in more than 10 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab and Tripura.

In India, the method was first evaluated in TNAU during 2002 and with the financial aid of the government, it was introduced in the Cauvery delta and Thamirabarani tracts of the state. A yield increment of minimum 1.5 tonne to 2.5 tonne per hectare and maximum yields of 13 tonne to 14 tonne was witnessed in some holdings, the vice-chancellor said. In Tamil Nadu, paddy was widely cultivated in 20 lakh hectares in 28 districts with an annual harvest of 80 lakh tonne to 86 lakh tonne and an average yield of four tonnes per hectare. The method emphasising `plant less to harvest more’ has lured paddy farmers across the globe.

Since 1990s its potential has been under test in countries like China, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and other paddy growing Asian countries. SRI method was refined by thousands of researchers and farmers all over the world.