Rice is at the heart of a fierce strategy debateas the country prepares to launch the secondGreen Revolution in the eastern states.Policymakers and scientists have drawn upambitious plans to increase the productivity ofthis cereal which feeds two-thirds of Indians.Enormous funds are being poured into researchaimed at improving seed varieties, with a heavyfocus on developing hybrid rice. Is it the rightoption for millions of small rice farmers who are already battling high input costs andincreasingly unpredictable weather? Or doespart of the solution lie in efficient methods ofcultivation that will cut down water use andimprove yield?

LATHA JISHNU analyses these varied strands asshe visits research institutes and gets down intothe paddy fields of Odisha and Andhra Pradeshto understand what might work. She discoversthat traditional rice varieties are making a sig-nificant comeback in Odisha—as in Karnataka,where APARNA PALLAVI finds some farmers haveabandoned high-yielding varieties in favour ofindigenous varieties and organic farming tomeet the challenges of climate change. FromWest Bengal, SAYANTAN BERA reports that thelargest rice producing state has a different setof problems to contend with if it has to reap the

promise of the new Green Revolution.

SAVINGRICE

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Down To Earth • December 16-31, 201028

Something is stirring in paddyfields across India. Newseeds, new crop manage-ment techniques and newlyminted food security policiesare about to hit the country-

side. Not all of the changes that arebeing forged in Krishi Bhawan, head-quarters of the Union agriculture min-istry, in the top-flight research institu-tions across the country, and in theboardrooms of leading global anddomestic seed companies are visible asyet. But these policies could transformthe country’s rice landscape, perhaps, inan unalterable manner.

Driving past lush green rice paddiesin Odisha’s Cuttack and Khordha dis-tricts, the picture seems timeless as ever.Farmers are surveying their ripeningcrop and counting panicles, the branch-ing flower cluster that carries rice grains,to get an idea of the expected yield. It isa richly verdant tapestry that is on viewfor mile upon mile: the predominantexpanse of high-yielding dwarf varietiesbroken here and there by fields of dis-tinctively taller traditional rice plants.As one travels southwest to Koraput, thefields of traditional rice varieties appearto be more widespread. Here lines ofcolourfully clad women from tribalcommunities are working in the pad-dies, transplanting the same kind of ricethey have been growing for centuries.This ageless picture of bucolic charm, soclosely tied to the country’s culture andhistory, is, however, deceptive.

There is a crisis in rice—both for thefarmer, battling unprecedented changesin weather and escalating costs of culti-vation, and the government, whichneeds to ramp up rice production bytwo million tonnes annually to ensurethe nation’s food security. There areother concerns as well. India is a highlywater-stressed country. Since every kilo-gramme of rice requires 4,000-5,000litres of water, making it an ecologicallyunsound crop, there is a question markover the issue of increasing rice produc-tion. The biggest worry is stagnantyields. India has the largest area underrice in the world—about 44 millionhectares (ha)—but its productivity isway behind a dozen other countries.High-yielding varieties cover slightlyover 80 per cent of the rice acreage, butthe yields of these varieties—the resultof decades of research by the huge net-

work of public-funded institutions—have touched a plateau. Farm expertssay the primary reason is poor agro-nomic practices. In contrast, China, thebiggest producer of rice in the world,churns out 193 million tonnes of paddyon just 29.2 million ha, notching upyields of 6.61 tonnes per ha comparedwith 3.37 by India.

There is a sharp dichotomy in theapproach of the farmer and the policy-maker on what can be done on thisscore. There lies a huge perception gapbetween the farmer’s search for sustain-able livelihood and ecologically soundpractices in the face of climate uncer-tainties and dipping water table, and thegovernment’s focus on industry-pro-moted solutions for boosting rice yield.

Let’s take a few examples. InMandya district of Karnataka, paddyfarmer Boregowda of Shivahalli villagehas switched to traditional rice varietiesfrom the high-yielding Jaya and Tanu,which he was cultivating with chemicalfertilisers and pesticides. Output hadfallen from the initial 2.5-2.7 tonnes peracre (0.4 ha) to 1.8 tonnes, and given thecost of cultivation his farming was prov-ing unremunerative. Besides, unpre-dictable weather was making his liveli-hood precarious. Boregowda startedwith his grandfather’s favourites, Coim-batore Sanna and Doddibatha. The vari-eties, revered for their drought-toler-ance and special taste, had disappearedafter the Kannambadi dam brought irri-gation to the area. He now harvests 2.7-3 tonnes per acre and gets a better pricefor his organically grown rice.

At the other end of the country, inKoraput, the M S Swaminathan Resea-rch Foundation has given the tribals anassured income through conservationand cultivation of the scented Kalajeerarice. Starting with just 5.6 ha in 2002,the prized rice is now grown over 48.8ha, yielding 134 tonnes in 2008. Therice, says Susanta Sekhar Chaudhury,senior scientist at the foundation, isfetching cultivators a handsome premi-um. There are countless such storieswhere farmers are shrugging off modernfarm practices to return to the healthiercultivation of the past (see ‘Recovering alost legacy’ on p31).

But can traditional varieties alonemeet the country’s growing food needs?The Planning Commission estimatesthat India requires 122.1 million tonnes

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of milled rice by 2020 to meet food secu-rity norms. At the existing 1.34 per centrate of growth India can hope to pro-duce no more than 106 million tonnes.

How is the country to bridge thisdeficit?

A major initiative to meet this chal-lenge was kicked off in 2007 with thelaunch of the National Food SecurityMission which has been mandated tobump up rice production by 10 milliontonnes by 2011-12. The three-prongedmission—for rice, wheat and pulses—has been allocated generous funds of`4,882 crore with rice getting the lion’sshare of `1,963 crore. This year, FinanceMinister Pranab Mukherjee announcedanother scheme, more ambitiouslytitled the Second Green Revolution forthe eastern states, in his budget. With anoutlay of `400 crore from the RashtriyaKrishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) funds, thethrust is to step up rice yield, along withthat of pulses and oilseeds, in the statesof Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh,Odisha, West Bengal and eastern UttarPradesh. This is good news for the rain-fed region that has received little atten-tion from policymakers in the last sixdecades. While agriculturists believe theregion holds the greatest potential for

meeting the country’s galloping foodrequirements, there is a yet-to-be-set-tled debate on the path forward.

According to Union agricultureminister Sharad Pawar the best bet is theChinese model. At the first conclave ofagriculture ministers of the newly desig-nated Green Revolution states in July,Pawar said there was much to learnfrom the Chinese model of agriculturalgrowth, particularly in using hybridpaddy. To ensure that the correct strate-

gies were followed, he announced theformation of a special task force onhybrid rice. One of the primary objec-tives of the task force would be to fosterthe production of hybrid rice seedsthrough public-private-partnerships(PPPs) and make these available at rea-sonable rates to farmers. The belief isthat only hybrid rice can bridge the yieldgap of one-two tonnes per ha. AshishBahuguna, additional secretary in the

agriculture ministry who heads the taskforce—it is made up of half a dozenbureaucrats—confirms that the GreenRevolution interventions would willy-nilly be focused on hybrid rice. In fact,to fast forward the process, India wouldimport hybrid rice seeds from China,Indonesia and Vietnam. “There is noneed to reinvent the wheel. Our institu-tions can continue with their adaptiveresearch but we can test these varietiesfor the next kharif,” Bahuguna says.

This is a decision which could provecontroversial.

Two decades of concentratedresearch on hybrids by premier researchinstitutions in the country—theDirectorate of Rice Research (DRR) inHyderabad, the International Agricult-ure Research Institute (IARI) in Delhiand the Central Rice Research Institute(CRRI) in Cuttack—have not mademuch headway. Since the 1990s, the

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Rice indexAll-India area, production and yield of rice

Top rice producing states (2008-09)

Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation

NA – Not available; *The compound growth rates are for 2000-08

Year Average Average Compound Average Compound

area production growth rate yield (kg/ growth rate

(million (million of production hectare) yield (kg/

hectares) tonnes) (million tonnes) hectare)

1950-1960 31.57 26.28 NA 829.9 NA

1960-1970 35.85 35.85 2.4 998.9 1.4

1970-1980 38.63 44.75 2.6 1,156.4 1.6

1980-1990 40.65 59.77 4.2 1,467.1 3.6

1990-2000 43.21 80.00 1.9 1,852.0 1.1

2000-2010 43.40 89.19 2.4* 2,052.8 2.1*

State Area All India Production All India Yield

(million (percentage) (million tonnes) (percentage) (kg/hectare)

hectares)

West Bengal 5.94 13.03 15.04 15.16 2,533

Andhra Pradesh 4.39 9.63 14.24 14.36 3,246

Uttar Pradesh 6.03 13.25 13.10 13.20 2,171

Odisha 4.45 9.78 6.81 6.87 1,529

Punjab 2.74 6.01 11.10 11.09 4,022

Assam 2.48 5.46 4.01 4.04 1,614

Hybrid rice would will-nilly become the centrepieceof the new Green Revolution. To fast forward theprocess India would need to import hybrid rice seeds

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Centre and states have released 43hybrid rice varieties, of which 28 aredeveloped by public labs. In addition,says Tapan Kumar Adhya, director ofCRRI, 30-40 truthfully labelled hybridsdeveloped by the private sector arebeing cultivated in the country. Yet, justabout 3 per cent of the area under ricehas gone over to hybrids (see ‘Sterilegrowth—at home and abroad’ on p33).

“We can’t do without hybrids,”insists B C Viraktamath, director of DRR.“Varieties may give us five tonnes per habut that crucial extra tonne per ha canonly come from hybrids.” He, however,concedes that “increasing the yieldshould not be the only criterion” since ithas “derailed the sustainability of riceproduction system”. Therefore, “theGreen Revolution in eastern Indiashould be ushered in based on the prin-ciples of sustainability, soil health andenvironmental protection”, Viraktam-ath says. He believes half the irrigatedarea under rice, that is 9-10 million ha,can be brought under hybrids if all goeswell. DRR has just released its first hybridvariety in a marketing and licensing dealwith four private companies.

It is perhaps on account of such pooracceptance that the National FoodSecurity Mission (NFSM), too, is focusingmuch of its energy on popularisinghybrid rice. It has set a target of bringingthree million ha under hybrids by 2011although mission officials have notfound the response of farmers encourag-ing so far. Mukesh Khullar, joint secre-tary in the agriculture ministry, whoheads NFSM says, “Farmers don’t appearto see much benefit in using hybrids,and there are issues relating to qualityand availability of the seed.” The missionprovides financial assistance for produc-tion of hybrid rice seed, `1,000 per 100kg, because it concedes that “hybrid riceseed production is a very complex andrisky task. The ultimate realisation perunit area in hybrid rice is very low”.Along with funds for distributing minikits of hybrid and high-yielding vari-eties, it also offers assistance for con-ducting demonstrations on farmers’field. Some of the eastern states have anissue with the priorities outlined byPawar. A member of West BengalPlanning Commission, who did notwish to be named, says, “The large-scaletransition to hybrid rice in India is notpractical since the input costs are too

December 16-31, 2010 • Down To Earth 31

The custodianA retired teacher grows 350indigenous varieties on his farm

Natabar Sarangi looks at high-yield-ing varieties that hedge his farm withcomplete disdain. To him, the only ricethat counts is an indigenous varietythat boasts a history longer than his.Sarangi is 77.

This retired schoolmaster has butone passion in life—cultivation of tra-ditional or indigenous varieties thathave almost vanished from the publicmemory and to share them with otherrice growers. Sarangi has an incredi-ble 350 varieties growing on his two-hectare farm in Narisho, a hamlet inKhordha district of Odisha. In recentyears, hundreds of farmers fromacross the state have made the pil-grimage to his nondescript hamlet,seeking the seeds of hope. Hopebecause the seeds that Sarangi nur-tures require no costly inputs and giveguaranteed yields. This year, a hun-dred farmers from Sambalpur took 10quintals or 1,000 kg. Others camefrom Bargarh; a few bags have goneto the Niyamgiri Hills. Sarangi chargesa nominal rate that barely covers hisproduction cost. But more likely thannot, he will give away the seeds forfree if he is convinced that there isgenuine passion for such rice. Sowhen retired nuclear scientist P Parameswaran came from Keralaseeking 200 kg of flood-tolerant vari-

eties, Sarangi gifted him the seeds.Sarangi’s aim in maintaining his

farm, which he does with difficulty,due both to his age and means, is todemonstrate that rice grown in theold fashioned way can be paying andhealthy for both farmers and con-sumers. Not a drop of chemical pesti-cide or a single gram of fertiliser pol-lutes his fields. He uses green manure,or donicha, made from plants that aregrown along with the rice crop. Hesays it is the most economic source ofnitrogen.

His rice varieties, all with liltingnames like Kedara Gouri, PadmaKishori, Khas Kamini, Gobinda Bhog,Pimpudi Basa (so aromatic that redants make a beeline for it), Kalajeeraand Ratna Chudi have different usesand purposes that are closely linkedto the local culture. And on the wholethese are extremely sturdy varietiesthat can withstand floods anddroughts. Kannia Patia, for instance,can take submergence of 22 days.“After the floods recede the plant willhave 20-25 tillers (roots) and thefarmer will harvest two tonnes ofpaddy for sure,” says Sarangi. Sohra,Kalakiyari and Nadia Phulo aredrought-resistant varieties of the kindthat the Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch will find hard to match, heboasts.

But would other farmers settle foryields ranging from two to 4.5 tonnesper hectare? Clearly, many believethere are other advantages to be had.

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high and it’s not easy to convince farm-ers. Besides, hybrid rice requires betterirrigation management which is not pos-sible everywhere in West Bengal.” In anycase, even with the existing semi-dwarfhigh-yielding varieties, productivity offour-five tonnes per ha is achievable.

There are other gripes. K Samanta,additional director of research atBidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya,an agricultural university in Kalyani,West Bengal, points out that state agri-cultural scientists were not consultedduring the formulation of the newGreen Revolution plan. What has beenoverlooked in the formulation of theplan is that most farmers here are smalland marginal landholders. They are effi-cient in crop management but are notsuited to farm mechanisation, which is asignificant component of the plan.

Overall, the obsession with promot-ing hybrid rice as a priority has not gonedown well with the larger community ofagriculture scientists. They point outthat the new stress-tolerant varietiesthat have been introduced in several

states have done much to revive the for-tunes of rice cultivators—and add to thefoodgrain kitty. One of the biggestbreakthroughs has been the develop-ment of rice varieties that can take onprolonged submergence, drought andgrow well in extreme salinity. UmaShankar Singh, South Asia regional pro-ject coordinator of the InternationalRice Research Institute’s STRASA (Stress

Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia)project, points out that a significantstrategy to enhance rice productivity inrainfed areas and mitigate the impact ofclimatic changes is to go for stress-toler-ant rice varieties. A major success of theSTRASA project in this line, partneredwith the Central Rice Research Institute,is Swarna Sub1, which can reboundafter over two weeks of submergence

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Top rice producing countries (2008)Japan does not grow hybrids, yet its productivity is higher than China’s

Country Production (million Area (million Productivity Area under hybrids

tonnes) of rough rice hectares) (tonnes/hectare) (million hectares)

China 193 29.2 6.61 19

India 148.36 43.91 3.37 1.3

Indonesia 57.83 11.85 4.88 0.13

Bangladesh 46.51 11.60 4.01 0.30

Vietnam 35.90 7.35 4.88 0.68

Thailand 29.30 10.68 2.75 nil

Myanmar 17.50 6.70 2.61 0.05

Philippines 16.81 4.40 3.82 0.20

Brazil 13 2.92 4.45 0.025

Japan 11.02 1.63 6.78 Nil

Women in Koraput harvestaromatic Lalat rice

MURALIDHAR ADHIKARI

and is seen as a breakthrough for coastalareas. Similarly CSR36, a salt-tolerantvariety developed by the Central SoilSalinity Research Institute in Karnal,Haryana, is performing exceptionallywell. Stress-prone rice area in the coun-try accounts for as much as 24 millionha, of the 44 million ha, posing a hugechallenge for stabilising rice production.

All of this appears to have led to aquiet war in the research communityover the right rice strategy for India.According to insiders, a group of scien-tists from the apex Indian Council forAgricultural Research (ICAR) hasbrought up this issue with Pawar andKrishi Bhawan officials, pointing outthat tilt towards hybrids would onlybenefit the private seed companies.Hybrid seeds cannot be reused by farm-ers like other seeds and have to be pro-cured each season from the developer.“Is it surprising therefore that privateseed companies are not interested ininbred seed research but are focusingalmost exclusively on hybrids?” asks asenior ICAR scientist who has worked oninternational programmes.

The new Green Revolution may wellusher in a rice revolution in the east butbefore that it could lead to a bitter battlefor India’s rice market.

With inputs from Jyotika Sood

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December 16-31, 2010 • Down To Earth 33

Source: Directorate of Rice Research

Country Year research Government Private Status

started institutions institutions

Japan 1983 2 1 Basic research under way. But

cultivation unlikely because

hybrids are not economically

viable, so no demand

Brazil 1984 1 1 On farm trials; prospects of

limited commercialisation

Philippines 1980 3 6 8 hybrids released; major

constraints high seed cost and

low yields

Myanmar 1993 1 Nil Limited cultivation with hybrids

imported from China and India

Thailand 1993 1 Not much scope as Thailand is

Nil interested in growing quality

rice for export

Vietnam 1985 4 2 2 indigenous hybrids released;

importing seeds from China

Bangladesh 1993 1 4 2 indigenous hybrids released;

12 Chinese hybrids under

cultivation

Indonesia 1986 2 4 35 hybrids released; no high-

yielding hybrid identified so far

India 1989 15 30 43 hybrids released so far. Poor

acceptance because of limited

yield gains

China 1964 50 Nil Facing major constraints of

stagnant yields and poor quality

grain; work under way on super

hybrids

China is the benchmark for rice productivity, and its successis supposed to have come from its early adoption of hybridrice. But this is true only in parts.

Of the 29.2 million hectares (ha) that is under rice inChina, 19 million ha are given over to hybrids. But as scien-tists at the Directorate of Rice Research (DRR) in Hyderabadpoint out, the high level of productivity (6.61 tonnes ofpaddy per ha compared with 3.37 for India) is partly due tothe high productivity of its inbred varieties. There are sev-eral reasons for this. The soil is rich, the climate is conduciveand over 90 per cent of the paddy fields are irrigated (56 per cent in India). Besides, China is known to favourhigh usage of fertiliser.

If one were to study the spread of hybrids elsewhere inthe world, the report card is pretty dismal. All the othercountries put together account for just three million ha ofhybrid rice cultivation. Some, like Thailand and Japan, haveclearly rejected the hybrid option. Japan has a higher pro-ductivity than China’s and it does not grow hybrid rice (see

tables). Similarly, in Egypt, the high yield of inbred varietiesmakes it impossible to develop hybrids with a 20-25 percent advantage.

Because of the tardy pace of research and developmentin the Southeast Asian region, China is turning into a majortrader of hybrid seeds, prime customers being Vietnam,Myanmar and Bangladesh. India is expected to becomeanother shortly. The Chinese had a head start becauseresearch was initiated in the 1960s and the first hybridswere released in 1976. What helped, perhaps, was that allresearch was in the public sector. The situation is exactlythe reverse in India: private companies outnumber the pub-lic research institutions. So partnerships are the order of theday with private companies being roped in for seed multi-plication and marketing. And to ensure offtake, the FoodCorporation of India is being asked to procure it.

Ashish Bahuguna, who heads the task force on hybrids,is the first to admit that there are huge problems withIndian hybrids: poor quality, high prices (hybrids add ̀ 1,600to `2,000 per ha to the seed cost), limited shelf life, inade-quate seed multiplication capacity, trade hostility andfarmer resistance. Yet it has been given a pivotal role in ricerenaissance in eastern India.

Slow road to hybrids Private seed companies outnumber public research institutions in India

Sterile growth—at home and abroadFor the new Green Revolution India is expected toqueue up for China’s hybrid seeds

Jai Sri is a common greeting in theKoraput countryside these days. A

Paraja tribal woman working in herfields, a passing motorcyclist drivingthrough the rutted lanes, a teacherheading for his school, they all greeteach other and visitors with a Jai Sri. Ithas nothing to do with religious revival-ism, but is the new buzzword sweepingthe farmlands of Odisha—and largepatches of India. SRI is the acronym forSystem of Rice Intensification, a newtechnique to grow rice more efficientlyusing much less water and seeds butyielding far greater quantities of rice.

It is a system that is being spread bya band of somewhat unlikely evange-lists: academics, non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs), top-flight charita-ble trusts, crop research institutions,wildlife organisations, the World Bankand most surprisingly the Governmentof India.

Muralidhar Adhikari, who workswith Koraput NGO Pragati, exemplifiesthe spirit of the SRI missionaries. Hegoes from farm to farm with a messagethat comes across as heretical to rice cul-tivators. Stop growing rice in standingwater, use as little of the preciousresource as possible, reduce seed con-sumption and throw out pesticides andchemical fertilisers. “Initially farmersare sceptical and it takes a lot of con-

vincing to get them to try SRI,” saysAdhikari, district coordinator of Pragatiwhich is channelling most of its energiesinto transforming rice cultivation in thisbackward tribal district of Odisha.

In SRI 8-14-day seedlings instead ofthe normal three-four-week-oldseedlings are transplanted at wider spac-ing through a marker system for unifor-mity. Only one seedling is planted perhill. Water is used sparingly to keep thesoil moist (alternate wetting and drying)but not continuously flooded. Weedingis carried out mechanically through arotary weeder (small hand-drivenmachine), but instead of throwing outthe weeds these are pushed into the soilfor aeration and providing organiccompost. Use of farmyard manure isencouraged because SRI cultivationresponds better to organic fertiliser thanchemical fertilisers. Seedlings are raisedin unflooded nurseries, not planteddensely and have to be well suppliedwith organic matter. There is an optionof direct-seeding, but transplanting iscommon. Seedlings have to be trans-planted quickly and carefully in a squarepattern, usually of 25x25 cm, to giveroots and leaves more space to grow.

It is these simple but time-consum-ing and intermittently labour-intensivepractices that could prove the saviour ofrice farmers, increasing yield between

30-80 per cent and cutting down waterconsumption by as much 40 per cent.Seed use, too, is drastically pared.

Ask Duddeda Sugunavva, a 38-year-old Dalit farmer from Katkur village inWarangal district of Andhra Pradesh.The delighted farmer, who works ontwo acres (0.8 ha) of leased land, says, “Iwas reluctant at first to try a methodthat was completely contrary to whatI’ve been used to for decades.” Butgrudgingly she tried out SRI on aboutone-tenth of an acre. But after harvest-ing six 70-kg bags rather than the usualfour bags from that plot, she quicklyextended the technique to the entire twoacres, and has now been using only SRI

practices for five seasons.Her take-out is pretty stunning.

Compared to the 35-40 bags of ricefrom one acre (2.8 tonnes/acre) that shewould harvest earlier, Sugunavva nowgets 55-60 bags (4.2 tonnes/acre). Shehas more reason to smile: costs havebeen slashed by `4,000 per acre. SRI inAndhra Pradesh is spearheaded by theWorld Wide Fund for Nature in collab-

Simple steps to SRITransplant 8-14-day seedlings,instead of the normal three-four-week-old seedlings, at wider spac-ing. Use marker system for unifor-mity. Plant only one seedling perhill. Use water sparingly to keep thesoil moist, but do not flood the fieldcontinuously. Weed with a rotaryweeder and push them into the soilfor aeration and organic compost.Use organic fertiliser.

Down To Earth • December 16-31, 201034

MORE WITH LESSSystem of Rice Intensification is new mantra for reducing

water usage and increasing productivity

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oration with the International CropResearch Institute for the Semi-AridTropics (ICRISAT)—an unusual partner-ship aimed at promoting more efficientuse of water in agriculture.

The World Bank, too, is a championof SRI. Working with Tamil Nadu toimprove its irrigation service delivery,the Bank has helped to bring around450,000 ha under the SRI system. Itslogic: “any significant growth in agricul-ture depends on increasing the efficien-cy and productive use of water.” Itwarns that by 2020, India’s demand forwater will outstrip all sources of supply.

Since India needs to increase riceproduction by 2.5 million tonnes a year,it cannot hope to do so by the conven-tional method of cultivation. That guz-zles 4,000 to 5,000 litres of water per kgof rice. Nor can it expand its irrigatedarea to the required level because ofconstraints on land and water resources.

One reason Tamil Nadu is promot-ing SRI is because it is one of India’s dri-est states, getting just 925 millimetres ofrainfall a year. The per capita availabili-ty of water resources is 900 cubic metresa year compared with an average of2,200 cubic metres for the country. Andagriculture consumes 75 per cent of thestate’s water.

Perhaps as a result of Tamil Nadu’sproject, SRI has caught the imaginationof the mandarins in Delhi, too, whichhas set aside `8 crore under the NationalFood Security Mission to propagate SRI

in the selected districts where the pro-gramme runs. The mission has a targetof covering five million ha by 2011-12and is a key element in efforts to push

up rice productivity.NGOs are the foot soldiers of this

innovative programme with nodalorganisations stringing together dis-trict-wide networks to reach as manysmall and marginal farmers as possible.The NGO network from Pradhan inBihar to CROPS in Jangoan, AndhraPradesh, has been made possible thor-ough generous funding from private

charities. The largest donor is the SirDorabji Tata Trust, which has selectedSRI as one of two major initiatives underits natural resource management andrural livelihoods programme. Biswan-ath Sinha, senior programme officerwith the Trust, says it started with aninitial allocation of `11 crore in 2007-08and has upped the figure to ̀ 24 crore for2010-11.

Matching funds have come from thepublic sector. NABARD, for one, has takenup SRI in earnest and allocated `16 crorefor the programme. It is also puttingtogether data to prove SRI’s efficacy.According to a survey compiled by itsRaipur office, yield increases are as highas 50 per cent.

Scientists, however, are yet to beconvinced.

U S Singh of the International RiceResearch Institute’s (IRRI’s) STRASA pro-gramme in Delhi insists that there is noscientific data to corroborate the claims

made by SRI proponents. IRRI incidental-ly promotes the direct-seeded techniqueof rice planting which also avoids theconventional puddling and submer-gence practices.

Shambu Prasad, associate professorat the Xavier Institute of Management,Bhubaneswar, who has put together anational alliance on SRI, believes that sci-entists tend to be dismissive of SRI

because the technology has come fromthe farmers and not the formal researchestablishment. He admits that there areissues with SRI. One is labour costs.Although small farmers can cometogether to do the tansplanting andweeding at the critical times, costs canbe a concern when farmers have to hirelabour for these chores. One yardstick ofthe technique’s success is that SRI isbeing adapted for a range of other cropsfrom wheat to millets.

Modern agriculture, Prasad con-cedes, has been the most successful sys-tem of production in history. But it hasalso been the most stressful for naturalresources—for soil, water and air. Whatis needed now is grassroots innovationthat relieves these stresses. ■

December 16-31, 2010 • Down To Earth 35

Duddeda Sugunavva, a farmer in Warangal, has beenpractising SRI for five seasons. She now reaps almostdouble what she used to get earlier

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