Rice planting system in Nepal

Arjun PandeyDepartment 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-147181sq. 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-AugustAutumn : September-NovemberWinter : 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, 1994-2008*=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 ??

2009 2007 2005 2003 2000 1995 1990 19850

1

2

3

4

5

Area Production and Yield inNepalyieldproductionarea

Year

Area

/Yie

ld/P

rodu

ction

Easte

rn Te

rai ( M

orang)

Easte

rn Te

rai (S

unsari)

Easte

rn Hill

(Dhan

kuta)

Easte

rn High

Hill (Pan

chthar)

Centra

l Tera

i (Sarl

ahi)

Centra

l Tera

i (Dhan

nusha)

West

ern Te

rai (R

upandeh

i)

West

ern In

ner Te

rai (D

ang)

0

2

4

6

8

10

SRI Yield (T/Ha) Conventional Yields (T/Ha)

PRACTICE/PURCHASECOSTS,SRI RICE(RS/HA)

COST CONVENTIONAL RICE(RS/HA)

DIFFERENCE(RS/HA)

SEED 125 1250 1125

NURSERY PREPARATION 50 500 450

LAND PREPARATION 7500 7500 0

COMPOST 4800 2400 -2400

FERTILIZERS 1500 3000 1500

TRANSPLANTING 1250 1500 250

IRRIGATION 200 400 200

WEEDING 750 1350 600

PESTICIDE 0 500 500

HARVESTING 1750 1500 -250

TOTAL COST 17925 19900 1975

REVENUE,GRAIN 60450 23250 -37200

REVENUE,BY PRODUCT 3000 3000 0

TOTAL REVENUE 63450 26250 -37200

NETPROFIT 45525 6350 -39175

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 effectWater control -5.75 t/ha vs. Flooding- 4.34 t/ha

• FertilizationCompost-5.49 t/ha vs. NPK fertilizer -4.48 t/ha

• Plants per hill effect1 plant/hill- 5.43 t/ha vs. 3 plants/hill- 4.65 t/ha

• Spacing effect30x30cm- 5.08 t/ha vs. 25x25 cm 5.00 t/ha

source-Uphoff, 2006

Twelve Techniques of SRI

Nursery Preparation Uprooting Seedlings

Marking the area Planting on the spot

Intercultural operation

Technology PromotionLeaf Color Chart

Urea Super Granule

Seed Production and Preservation

Alternate Wet and Dry(AWD) irrigation System

Pheromone trap

http://wn.com/samardeen17

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 adoptingSRI in larger areas

THANK YOU