Performance of Sys=
tem of
Rice Intensification (SRI) under island ecosystem
N. Ravisankar*,
S. K. Zamir Ahmed, M. Din, T.V.R.S. Sharma and =
S. G. Chaudhuri
Central Agricultural Research Institute, Port
Blair-744 101
Andaman and
Rice occupies around 8500 ha =
in
bay islands and cultivated through traditional method of random transplanti=
ng
with less or no inputs. Low yields and lodging due to heavy rain at the tim=
e of
harvesting are the major impediments in rice cultivation. Experiments were
initiated on SRI through on and off farm from 2004 onwards. Traditionally farmers rai=
se
rice nursery in the field thus prone for splashing of seeds by rain. In MAT=
nursery,
farmers could be able to save Rs. 1610 / ha
vis-à-vis traditional nursery. The crop was sown in August=
at
blooms dale farm of Central Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair and
simultaneously for the first time in farmers fie=
ld
using three HYVs namely, T=
aichung-Sen-Yu,
Quin Livang No. 1 a=
nd BTS
24. The critical stage is the=
first
20 days of transplanting. Since, bay islands receives higher intensity
rainfall, there was apprehension that, single seedling might get damaged du=
e to
continuous rainfall. In this experiment, rain fall of first 20 days amounts=
to
89.45 mm in 4 rainy days. At harvest, during last week it registered 368.3 =
mm
of rainfall in 2 rainy days. Even though there was heavy rainfall of 89.45 =
mm
of rain fall in 4 rainy days, the seedlings withstood. The SRI method
outperformed the normal planting in terms of yield attr=
ibutes,
yield and root growth. SRI registered 42 per cent higher yield than normal
planting. Due to heavy rainfall of 368.3 mm at harvest stage, normal planti=
ng
led to complete lodging and recorded only 2.2 t ha-1 compared to SRI planti=
ng
where in no lodging was observed. This might be due to the compact hill with
more tillers, deep root (25.2 cm) with increased root weight. Among the
varieties, Taichung-sen-Yu performed better than
other varieties. The feed back on SRI by farmers are,
Seedlings can be produced from any area with less seed rate, water, labour and seedbed area. Seedlings are very healthy a=
nd
uniform in growth, Uprooting and transportation of seedlings is very easy
involving less labour and cost, can be protecte=
d from
heavy rainfall, drought and stray animals. Removal of weeds through cono weeding is easy and good harvest due to non lodging
leading to higher productivity. Thus, it can be concluded that, SRI and MAT=
is
gaining momentum in the cluster of villages in South Andaman which acts as a
role model for its expansion to other parts of the bay islands.
****