Field Trip Report – Group IIOctober 5, 2007

Chairman: Dr. L.G. Giri Rao

Rapporteur: Dr. R. Rajendran

Liaison Officer: Mr. Ashish Saha

Co-ordinator: Mr. Chakraborthy

Officer – in- charge: Mr. P.K. Datta

No. of delegates participating 50

Villages covered 3

Farmers participating 35

Farmers interviewed 5

S.No.

Villages Location Farmer interviewed

1 Bagabasa GP Melaghar RD Block, West Tripura

Mr. Vallab Debnath

2 Sonapur Bosh Nagar

RD Block,

West Tripura

Mr. Chowdhary

3 Indiranagar Melaghar RD Block, West Tripura

Mr. Amirthalal Das

Visitors received an overwhelming

reception

Farmer experiences: Mr. Vallab Debnath

In local govt area, 40 ha planted with SRI

• Practices under SRI:

Seed rate – 2 kg/ac (conv. 20-25 kg/ac)

Compost - 3 t/ac, NPK – 40 kg/ha (conv. applic. 70 kg/ac)

8-10 day, single seedlings, gap-filling

Water management – AWD

Yield – 30-35 mond/kani (3 t/ac)

Field observations :

Bagabasa Gram Panchayat area

• Swarna Mashuri and Pooja varieties

• Square planting, 22 – 25 cm

• Tillers per plant 25- 35 (ave. 30)

• Water stagnation by rain but draining

• First hand weeding by rotary weeder

2. Mr. Chowdhary (Sonapur)

Aman rice – planted with SRI methods

Seed rate – 2 kg/ac (conv. 25 kg/ac)

Seedling – single (conv . 5-6/hill), 10 d old seedlings (conv. 30 days)

NPK fertilizer – 65 kg/ac (conv. 175 kg/ac)

Three rotary weedings – 12, 24 and 36 DAT (conv. 2 hand weedings); AWD irrigation

No lodging; reach maturity 5-7 days earlier, but pest attack is more in SRI

Paddy yield expected from present aman crop:

• 40 mond/kani - 3.8 t/ac (9.5 t/ha)

Constraints:

• Labour problem especially for weeding

• Time-bound operations

3. Mr. Amirthalal Das, Indhiranagar

10 d old seedlings, single seedlings, square planting, 25 x 25 cm spacing

Rice yield

40 panicles/hill, 38 mond/kani – 3.8 t/ac (conv. yield 1.8 t/ac -- 9.5 vs. 4.5 t/ha)

Yield >doubled; cost reduced; 15 days earlier maturity; low pest pressure; good grain filling; low chaff (few unfilled grains); maximum tillering; only labour is a problem

After the field visit, 6 presentations were made by delegates

S.No

Name of delegate Topic

1 Dr. V. Ravindra Babu, DRR, Hyderabad

Grain quality assessment in SRI• BPT 5204, DRRH-2, Swarna• Eco-SRI, SRI and Traditional• Only varietal difference in grain quality• No influence by management effect except few parameter, viz., amylose content• Results need to be confirmed

S.No Name of delegate

Topic

2 Dr. K. Surekha, DRR, Hyderabad

Nutrient uptake and soil mining study in SRI• Low NUE and yield in Eco-SRI• SRI & conventional NPK uptake on par• SRI & conventional yields -- no difference• No soil depletion after 2 seasons of SRI• No clear varietal difference exists on NUE• Soil-available K more in Eco- SRI • Results need to be confirmed

S.No Name of delegate

Topic

3 Dr. K. Karthikeyan, Kerala

Pest incidence in SRI• Jyothi & KRH–2 evaluated• Stem borer moderate level • Rice blue beetle - more under SRI • Leaf folder and whorl maggot reduced in SRI• Increased activity of natural enemies, viz., spiders and larval parasites• Only one season of data, results need to be confirmed

S.No Name of delegate

Topic

4 Dr. G. Ravi, TNAU, Tamil Nadu

SRI and IPM • Stem borer, BPH, whorl maggot, gall midge reduced under SRI • Only leaf folder is more under SRI• Increased activity of predatory spiders• IPM fits very well with SRI

S.No Name of delegate

Topic

5 Sardar Iqbal Singh, Farmer, J & K

Used marker, 25x25 cm spacing, 15 d seedlings, pulling out of nursery very easy, conventional method laborious, AWD irrigation, full NPK applied, cono weeder 20th day

Variety: PC 19

35-55 tillers/hill

Ave. yield: 4.5 to 5.0 t/ha

S.No Name of delegate

Topic

6 Mr. Gopal Swaminathan

Agricultural graduate cum farmer

Shared his experiences on:

Double transplanting technique with SRI to mitigate extremely hot climate in Cauvery Delta

Innovative method of planting rice on ridges (direct seeding) in ridge-furrow system

Field study ….

Serious discussions going on …..

Field view & view of rotary weeder in Bagabasa village

Field study ….

Seeing the difference

between SRI & conventional

practice