System of Rice Intensification Verses Conventional Rice System: Off-farm Field Studies
Ravi Chandra Sharma
R esearch and Development Division, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizer Limited, Mumbai 400 074
Nobuhiko Fuwa
University of Tokyo, Japan
Pabitra Banik
Agricultural and Ecological Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata 700103
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36956/njas.v1i1.7
Received: 18 March 2019; Published: 18 March 2019
Copyright © 2019 Ravi Chandra Sharma, Nobuhiko Fuwa, Pabitra Banik. Published by Nan Yang Academy of Sciences Pte. Ltd..
Abstract
With inevitable growth of demand for human and industrial needs, water available for agriculture will become scarcer in the future. India is a highly water-stressed country. Hence, India needs to invest in improving its water productivity, and any capacity to produce more rice with less water. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has attracted much attention in increasing rice yield per unit area. For this study, fifteen farmers were selected those were practicing SRI technology by themselves during the Boro-cultivation season (January-April). The study was continued for three consecutive years 2012 to 14 on the same fields. In addition to the SRI plots, a similar size of non-SRI plot was maintained in conventional cultivation for comparison purpose. On an average, the non-SRI ight increased by 12%, number of tillers per square meter by 85%, number of reproductive tillers per hill by 286%, weight of panicle per hill by 139%, number of seeds per panicle by 41% and test weight by 26% due to SRI practice over the non-SRI practice. Average increment in straw and grain yield due to SRI over the non-SRI is 70% and 59% respectively. The physico-chemical and biological properties of soil improved due to SRI practice.
Keywords: System of rice intensification (SRI), rice productivity, microbial population, soil properties