Rice planting system in Nepal Arjun Pandey Department of plant and soil science Oklahoma State University

Outline Introduction Agriculture in Nepal Rice Planting System SRI and Conventional Method Problems Conclusion

Introduction:

Background:  Area of Nepal sq. Km.  Total farming Population-65%  23% of total area is the most fertile land where cereal production is mainly concentrated.  Agriculture Contributes to about 33.8% to national GDP.(World Bank,2010)  Provides part and fulltime employment opportunities to 65.5% of its population.  Elevation ranges from 70 m (230 ft) to 8848 m (29,029 ft) above sea level.  Tremendous variation in climate (tropical to temperate) as a result of variation in altitude. There are four main climatic seasons: Spring : March-May Summer : June-August Autumn : September-November Winter : December-February

Physiographic Regions and Cropping System Himalayan High mountain Middle mountain Siwalik Terai

Agriculture in Nepal  Among agriculture crops rice is main crop, cultivated on nearly 1.55 M Ha of lands.  Total production of rice 2008/09 was 4.3 millions of tons, with average productivity of 2907kg/ha(world average is about 4204kg/ha)

Problems of rice cultivation Older generation of seeds High Production cost Low doses of fertilizers Manual/bullock- Based cultivation Fraction of land(small holding=0.24ha) Distribution of land Low Irrigation facility Poor Farmers(% of population below international poverty line of US$1.25 per day, *=55) (Unicef,2010)

Rice cultivation system:  Upland rice cultivation:- 9% of total rice cultivation area is under upland.  Lowland rice cultivation:  Major practice  Cultivated 2 times in a year

Different methods of rice planting Direct planting- In Nepal it is not practiced yet, and research is going on. Transplanting Two ways of transplanting is popular in Nepal.  Conventional Transplanting  Modern Transplanting(SRI)

Conventional Rice Transplanting System Farmers Use more than 60 kg of seeds/ha Transplant very old seedlings(30-45 days) Plants many seedlings 8-10/hill.

Modern Rice Planting System(SRI) System of Rice Intensification-Evolved in Madagascar, over 20-yr period In Nepal introduced in 1998 One seedling per hill.

Why SRI ??

PRACTICE/PURCHASE COSTS,SRI RICE(RS/HA) COST CONVENTIONAL RICE(RS/HA) DIFFERENCE(RS/H A) SEED NURSERY PREPARATION LAND PREPARATION COMPOST FERTILIZERS TRANSPLANTING IRRIGATION WEEDING PESTICIDE0500 HARVESTING TOTAL COST REVENUE,GRAIN REVENUE,BY PRODUCT TOTAL REVENUE NETPROFIT

Five Principles of SRI

Comparisons of factor effects: Young seedling 8 days-6.28 t/ha vs. 20 days-3.80 t/ha Water management effect Water control t/ha vs. Flooding t/ha Fertilization Compost-5.49 t/ha vs. NPK fertilizer t/ha Plants per hill effect 1 plant/hill t/ha vs. 3 plants/hill t/ha Spacing effect 30x30cm t/ha vs. 25x25 cm 5.00 t/ha source-Uphoff, 2006

Twelve Techniques of SRI

Nursery Preparation Uprooting Seedlings Marking the areaPlanting on the spot

Intercultural operation

Technology Promotion  Leaf Color Chart  Urea Super Granule  Seed Production and Preservation  Alternate Wet and Dry(AWD) irrigation System  Pheromone trap

Conclusion SRI method is found to be more productive than conventional method Main components for higher yield of rice is younger seedlings, fewer seedlings /hill, wider spacing and AWD irrigation Tools and machines supply/availability for making and weeding are every useful for adopting SRI in larger areas