Considering the urgent need to find ways to grow more rice, with less water and fewer inputs, the SRI method is proving to be of considerable advantage in exponentially increasing paddy output.
Considering the urgent need to find ways to grow more rice, with less water and fewer inputs, the SRI method is proving to be of considerable advantage in exponentially increasing paddy output.
C ARMDAKSH works with small and marginal farmers in an area that is totally rainfed. The area is mono-cropped and the farmers have no other livelihood options round the year in Chhattisgarh. They mainly depend on paddy cultivation for their sustenance.
CARMDAKSH’s staff had very limited knowledge of SRI; most of it was learned from newspaper cuttings. The staff took up the challenge at their own risk, saying that if they failed, they would make up the loss from their own pocket. It was also difficult to persuade the labour to transplant 12-day-old seedlings. Finally, the seedlings were transplanted by the staff but there was a delay of 15 days at the time of transplanting. The results, however, were encouraging. The farmer got two bags of produce more than what he usually was able to get (10 bags).
CARMDAKSH was encouraged to take up SRI in a more systematic way; so it approached NABARD under the Rural Innovation Fund. NABARD sanctioned the support to carry out SRI in rain-fed areas, with tribal farmers in different conditions. In 2007, CARMDAKSH implemented SRI with 10 farmers and got encouraging results. The increase in production varied from 30–80 per cent.