Direct Seeding Of Rice: Promotion
The Government of Punjab is actively promoting the Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) also called the ‘tar-wattar’ technique of rice cultivation, which promises a multitude of advantages over traditional transplanting.
- However, the adoption of DSR in Punjab has been slow, with only 1.73 lakh acres (out of 79 lakh acres under paddy cultivation) using this technique in 2023.
- Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) is the technique, farmers prepare nurseries where seeds are first sown.
- After 25-35 days, the young seedlings are uprooted and replanted, in the main field.
- This method is labour and water-intensive, it is known to maximise yields and maintain better crop health. It requires around 25-27 irrigations in total.
- Direct Seeding of Rice (DRS) is no nursery preparation or transplantation involved in this method.
- In DSR, the pre-germinated seeds are directly drilled into the field roughly 20-30 days prior to when they would have been transplanted by a tractor-powered machine.
- The field is irrigated and levelled prior to the seeding process which is carried out using a seed drill or lucky seeder.
- Before sowing seeds are treated by soaking in a fungicide solution.
- The first irrigation is carried out 21 days after sowing.
