Farmers participation in assessmen= t and refinement of “SRI” under “IVLP” in Warangal, A= ndhra Pradesh

=

L. Jalapathi Rao and M. Sreed= har

Agricultural Research Station, ANGRAU, Warangal, AP

&= nbsp; System of Rice Intensification in recent times has emerged as a technology facilitating higher rice production with saving on water usage. This development had brought about a possible paradigm s= hift in rice cultivation from flooded field condition to maintaining the crop in= I.D condition. Limited water and = small land holdings were thought to be best niches for adoption of this system.

&= nbsp; The genesis of SRI in Warangal district is connected to a study tour by the first author to Srilanka wherein SRI is popularly practiced. Likelihood of exploring the benefi= ts of SRI in water deficit project area of “Institute Village Linkage Programme” was assessed and implemented during 2004-2005. Farmers as stakeholders participat= ed in the assessment and refinement process involving adoption of SRI and this pa= per deals with experiences of respondent farmers besides presenting observation= s on technical parameters.

&= nbsp; As per the technical indicators employed in the study, the yi= eld advantage of 21.4%/ha realised in SRI could be = attributed to enhanced ear-bearing tillering ability of a “SRI” seedling exploiting the advantage of “Phyllochron effect”. A mean increment of 8.5% in tiller production was noticed over conventional method of rice cultivation. Further, spik= elet number packed per panicle was also found to be more owing greater panicle length. An average additional income of Rs. 7800/ha was = realised in SRI with a high benefit cost ratio of 4.01compared to 2.8 with respect to normal paddy cultivation.

&= nbsp; Feedback from stakeholders indicated lot of improvisation in different components of= SRI as per local requirements to realise higher yie= lds breaking the ceilings of normal cultivation. Among the constraints operating wi= th SRI, skilled effort during planting of 8-12 days old tiny seedlings, drudge= ry in running rotary weeder and salinity during rabi causing seedling mort= ality were important.

&= nbsp; A perusal of adoption pattern indicated a positive trend with regard to continuance behaviour in succeeding seasons by farmers who have initially adopted the technology, though few farmers are adopting in larger area (5.5 – 7 ha). This trend was particularly pronounced in case of farmers holding 0.= 7 to 1 ha of area under well irrigation. However, the discontinuance behaviour wa= s observed in respect of 25-30% of the respondents citing obvious reasons of scarcity = of skilled men labour to run = weeders in standing crop, soil salinity in rabi and few problems in handling tender seedlings.

&= nbsp; In view of the above experience, it is of paramount importance to identify exa= ct niches to fit in SRI and popularise site specif= ic practices involving judicious improvisation as per local requirements.

****