The System of Rice Intensification in Jharkhand and Bihar Bringing new perspectives to the search for household food security _______ _____ NEEDS

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 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]

System of Rice Intensification Jharkhand  District: Deoghar  Block: Sarwa  Coverage of villages: 41 Bihar  District: Banka  Block: Chandan  Coverage of villages: 16

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-7029 Block : Sarwa District : Deoghar System of Rice Intensification: A Case

Particulars:SRI Date of sowing Date of transplanting Date of harvesting Number of weedings and hoeings4 Maximum number of tillers/hill108 Minimum number of tillers/hill62 Average number of tillers / hill81 Number of effective tillers / hill *32, 39, 43, 46, 86* Length of panicle (cm) *15 to 23.7* Number of grains / panicle *173, 223, 269, 303, 305* No. of plants / m 3 *11, 11, 12, 15, 15* Grain yield (t/ha) (*samples)12.9

SRITraditional

Comparison of SRI and Traditional Paddy Cultivation Farmer’s name: Sh. Rajeshwar Village : Bichgarha Panchayat : Sarwa Area : 10 decimals (0.1 ha) Variety : MTU-7029 Block : Sarwan District : Deoghar

ParticularsSRITraditional Date of sowing Area (dm)10 Date of transplanting Date of harvesting Number of weedings and hoeings40 Maximum number of tillers/hill10613 Minimum number of tillers/hill624 Average number of tillers / hill788 Number of effective tillers /hill*32, 39, 43, 46, 814, 5, 8, 8, 11 Length of panicle (cm) *15 to to15.1 Number of grains / panicle* 173, 223, 269, 303, ,143,167,170, 184 No. of plants / m 3 *12 to 1538 to 43 Grain yield (t/ ha) (* samples)

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 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

Nursery:

Single seedling ready for trans- planting

25 days after sowing

After 50 days

At the verge of maturing:

We express our gratitude to SDTT for their support in scaling up SRI in the state of Jharkhand Thank you