The document discusses the implementation and benefits of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) among marginal farmers in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, highlighting improvements in paddy yields and profitability compared to conventional methods. Detailed comparisons show SRI achieving significantly higher yields, with average increases of 66%, and recommendations for cultivation practices specific to mountainous regions. The initiative aims to enhance food security and livelihoods for smallholder farmers by promoting sustainable agricultural practices.

1. PROMOTING SYSTEM OF RICE INTENSIFICATION (SRI) AMONG MARGINAL FARMERS OF UTTARAKHAND AND HIMACHAL PRADESH DEBASHISH SEN, S.P. CHATURVEDI, HIRALAL BHARTI, AND RAJENDRA BANSAL

2. Paddy – A Mountain Farmers’ Crop Paddy yields in H.P. & Uttarakhand range from 1.5 to 2.0 t/ha S. No. Particulars Uttarakhand Himachal Pradesh Total 1 Total geographical area (in lakh ha) 53.49 55.67 109.16 2 Average rainfall (mm) 1800 1800 1800 3 Net sown area (in lakh ha) 5.78 5.58 11.36 4 Irrigated area (as % of net sown area) 19 35 27 5 Area under paddy (in lakh ha) 2.99 0.77 3.76 6 Total paddy production (000 M. tons) 613 120 733 7 Average yield of paddy (t/ha) 2.05 1.56 1.95

3. PSI’s Intervention (Kharif 2006) S. No. Name of Watershed, District Altitude (m) No. of villages No. of farmers covered Area covered (ha) A Uttarakhand 1 Bhanaj Gad, Rudraprayag 2000-2200 2 8 0.08 2 Hilai Gad, Rudraprayag 1900-2000 2 3 0.04 3 Sem Gadera, Tehri Garhwal 2100-2400 5 5 0.19 4 Niranjanpur & Vikasnagar, Dehradun 600-750 4 6 0.17 B Himachal Pradesh 1 Bhagan Khadd, Kangra 880-1020 9 12 0.33 2 Nakehad Khadd, Kangra 800-1000 1 2 0.07 3 Silh Nala, Bilaspur 650-750 1 2 0.03 4 Chalara Khas, Chamba 800-1000 1 2 0.04 TOTAL 600-2400 25 40 0.95

4. Orientation workshops – briefing for mobilisation, nursery & seed sowing Training and demonstration programmes - preparation of field, transplanting, weeding and organic composting Field support at transplanting, tillering & milking stages Experience-sharing workshops - 128 farmers, 21 NGOs, and 28 government officials Our Approach

5. Methodology Adopted Nursery Transplanting (25cm x 25 cm) Repeated use of single-row Mandava weeder Application of organic compost ( Panchgavya, Amritjal, Matka Khad ) Alternative wetting and drying Draining the field 25 days before harvesting

6. Comparison of results for SRI and conventional methods of paddy for farmers’ plots (1m x 1m) at Kangra, H.P. While SRI estimates stood close to 70-75 quintals per hectares, non-SRI yields were projected at a dismal 30-40 quintals per hectare. S. No. Particulars Tilak Raj (conventional) Tilak Raj (SRI) Dharam Chand (conventional) Dharam Chand (SRI) 1 Variety China-4 China-4 Parmal Parmal 2 No. of hills 29 16 34 16 3 No. of total tillers 247 352 204 320 4 No. of grains/panicle 105 161 120 155 5 Total weight (grain+straw) in kg 8.4 16.5 11.5 14.5 6 Total weight of grain (kg) 3.5 8.0 4.5 7.5 7 Net weight of grain (kg) 3.0 (3.0 t/ha) 7.5 (7.5 t/ha) 4.0 (4.0 t/ha) 7.0 (7.0 t/ha) 8 Weight of chaff (kg) 5.4 8.5 7.0 7.3 9 Height of chaff (cm) 84 118 80 80

7. Comparison of results for SRI and conventional methods of paddy for PSI plots (1m x 1m) at Dehradun While Type-3 SRI paddy showed a yield increment of 56%, the Pusa Sugandh SRI paddy showed a yield increment of 71%. S.No. Particulars Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 1 Variety Type-3 (conventional) Type-3 (SRI) Pusa Sugandh (conventional) Pusa Sugandh (SRI) 2 No. of hills 26 16 23 16 3 No. of total tillers 156 189 158 210 4 No. of grains/panicle 82 93 96 193 5 Total weight (grain + straw) (in grams) 1250 1800 2000 3500 6 Total weight of grain (g per m 2 ) 270 430 390 720 7 Net weight of grain (g) 250 (2.5 T/ha) 390 (3.9T/ha) 380 (3.8T/ha) 650 (6.5T/ha) 8 Weight of chaff (g) 980 1370 1610 2780 9 Height of chaff (cm) 105 130 120 140

8. Comparison of results for SRI and conventional methods of paddy at Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand While non-SRI yields stood close to 30 quintals per ha, the SRI yields were around 50-55 quintals per ha, an average increase of 66%. S. No. Particulars Himachal Pradesh Uttarakhand Conventional SRI Conventional SRI 1 No. of Farmers 18 18 22 22 2 Area (sq. m.) - 5,800 - 3,580 3 No. of total tillers (min-max) 2-8 8-51 1-14 5-35 4 Plant height (cm) 86 93 99 119 5 Panicles/plant (min-max) 2-13 8-40 1-14 5-26 6 Panicle length (cm) 19 22 17 21 7 Average no. of grains/panicle 97 148 100 161 8 Yield (Q/ha) 32 50 31 55

9. Comparison of cultivation costs for SRI and conventional methods of paddy cultivation Organic Basmati Type 3 variety is most profitable for mountain regions having altitude less than 1500m. S. No. Method Conventional SRI Total expen-diture (Rs./ha) Gross income (Rs./ha) Net profit (Rs./ha) B:C ratio Total expen-diture (Rs./ha) Gross income (Rs./ha) Net profit (Rs./ha) B:C ratio 1 Direct dry seed sowing 10,530 12,600 2,070 1.2:1 13,915 20,300 6,385 1.5:1 2 Germinated seed sowing 11,080 21,000 9,920 1.9:1 - - - - 3 Trans-planting 14,065 26,620 12,555 1.9:1 18,625 43,750 25,125 2.4:1 4 Trans-planting (Basmati- Type-3) 16,000 41,000 25,000 2.6:1 20,000 101,720 81,720 5:1

10. Lessons & Recommendations for SRI Paddy for Mountainous Regions Seed Sowing Time for Nursery High Altitude (>1500m) :1-7 June Medium Altitude (1000-1500m):10-20 June (iii) Low Altitude (<1000m) :25June-5 July Transplanting Time (i) 10-15 days -Yield 70-75Q/Ha (ii) 16-23 days -Yield 55-60 Q/Ha (iii) > 23 days – 40-45 Q/Ha Weeding (i) Three Times - Yield 70-75Q/Ha (ii) Two Times - Yield 60-65 Q/Ha (iii) One Time -Yield 50-55 Q/Ha

11. Comparison of results for SWI and conventional method of HD-2329 wheat variety at Dehradun The highest SWI yield was obtained with spacing: 15 cm x 15 cm row-to-row and 15 cm x 15 cm plant-to-plant S. No. Particulars SWI Conventional Row-to-row spacing (cm) 20 X 20 15 x 15 10 x 10 15 x 15 Broadcasting Plant-to-plant spacing (cm) 20 X 20 15 x 15 10 x 10 10 x 10 1 Area (sq.m) 69 72 78 72 164 182 2 Ave. no. of tillers (range) 16 (8-23) 20 (8-36) 20 (8-32) 23 (9-39) 5 (2-9) 5 (2-9) 3 Ave. plant height (cm) 90 92 84 84 71 71 4 Ave. no. of panicles per plant 16 15 15 15 4 4 5 Ave. panicle length (cm) 12 10 11 10 7 6 6 Ave. no. of grains/panicle 66 49 53 49 38 37 7 Grain yield (Q/Ha) 21 20 20 23 18 16 8 Straw yield (Q/Ha) 74 85 74 80 72 64

12. Comparison of results for SWI and conventional method of PBW - 396 wheat variety at Dehradun Highest SWI yields with this variety were obtained at spacing: 20 cm x 20 cm row-to-row and 20 cm x 20 cm plant-to-plant S. No. Particulars SWI Conventional Row-to-row spacing (cm) 20 X 20 15 x 15 10 x 10 15 x 15 Broadcasting Plant-to-plant spacing (cm) 20 X 20 15 x 15 10 x 10 10 x 10 1 Area (sq.m) 71 78 80 70 170 160 2 Ave. no. of tillers (range) 17 (10-27) 15 (7-22) 17 (7-36) 11 (6-16) 4 (2-8) 5 (2-9) 3 Ave. plant height (cm) 84 80 80 80 74 71 4 Ave. no. of panicles per plant 12 10 10 14 5 4 5 Ave. panicle length (cm) 14 12 11 11 7 76 6 Ave. no. of grains/panicle 51 67 56 55 36 28 7 Grain yield (Q/ha) 25 23 21 22 15 14 8 Straw yield (Q/ha) 78 74 72 76 66 64

13. Optimum row to row and plant to plant spacing is 15 cms x 15 cms and 20 cms x 20 cms SWI is too labour-intensive Need to design a seed drill for sowing at fixed spacing. Weeder/hoe needs to be designed for intercultural operations Organic composting required for higher yields Lessons & Recommendations for SWI for Mountainous Regions

14. SRI: Perceived benefits & constraints A. BENEFITS Less seed requirement Saving in water Decreased workload Promotes equity Early maturity Higher grain yields Increased biomass Improves soil fertility B. CONSTRAINTS Time-bound operations Labour-intensive Accessibility to weeders and markers Design modifications required in the Mandava weeder for small terraces Availability of water under rainfed conditions needed, especially after milking stage Strategy required for popularising and promoting SRI

15. Kharif 2007 30 capacity building workshops organised covering about 1000 farmers More than 600 farmers have adopted SRI in about 40 ha of paddy lands Application of SRI method for cultivation of finger millets (mandwa) and pulses (rajma) in 100 mountain farms Moving ahead

16. SRI: A boon for mountain farmers Small farmholding, about 0.4 ha (1 acre) per family SRI POTENTIAL TO ADDRESS THE FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOOD NEEDS OF SMALL AND MARGINAL FARMERS Rice is the staple food of the residing populace Higher stalk volume means more fodder for the cattle More farmyard manure and possibly increased milk yields Promotes a sustainable and more equitable mode of paddy cultivation

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