New technology to boost rice sector

Pakistani villagers separate rice after harvesting rice paddy in Talhaar district. 

LAHORE: Manual transplanting of paddy has been a laborious job being done for decades in Pakistan and about one million workers, mostly women, enter the standing water under scorching heat to complete paddy transplanting in Punjab.
To remain on time, the operation must be completed within first half of July, thus creating immense pressure on the workers.
The rural labour willing to perform this job was getting short with consequences including delay in rice transplanting, low plant population (approximately 60,000 compared to 80,000 plants/acres recommended) causing 15-20 per cent reduction in yield, reduction not only in rice but also wheat yield due to delay in transplanting, social tensions among rural communities to grab the transplanting labour first, drudgery on women transplanting workers while performing their job in highly humid and scorching heat.
To overcome these problems, Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB) funded a research project on “Standardization and popularization of direct seeding to increase rice productivity and Resource Conservation” to Rice Research Institute, Kala Shah Kaku (RRI-KSK), at a cost of Rs 13.908 million, said PARB sources while talking to APP on Tuesday.
The main objective of the project was to develop an alternative to transplanting so that the crop could be grown in a field condition similar to the wheat crop. It will not only eliminate the drudgery of rice cultivation but also reduce water requirements for the crop and increase its productivity per unit area.
Giving details of the current status of the project, Chief Executive PARB Dr Mubarik Ali told APP that standardization of technology in terms of seed operations like soaking and drying, seed rate, number and intensity of irrigation, weedicide control and variety for DS technology had already been completed during the last two years experimentation at RRI-KSK. After two years’ experimentation, the RRI-KK has announced standard practices.
Dr Mubarik Ali, explaining benefits of the technology, said that it could decrease the cost of rice cultivation by Rs 3,000-4,000 per acre at current input-cost on account of saving in puddling and transplanting operations. In addition, it will save 50 per cent of water and increase the yield by 10-15 per cent. Overall, it will reduce social tensions among rural communities at the time of transplanting because of the shortage of labour.
The quality of rice sown has already been tested by the RRI-KSK seed lab and results indicate that the practice does not alter the quality of Basmati rice, he added.
Now the project is at the commercialization stage.
After standardization of the technology, RRI-KK has put the experiments on farmers’ field under direct supervision of the project staff.
Throughout Punjab about 20 experiments are being conducted. The farmers were provided with seed, fertilizer, weedicide and technical guidance, while all the operations are conducted by the farmers themselves.
All farmers confirmed Rs 4,000-5,000/acre net saving in cost and 50 per cent saving and water, but increased in yield cannot be confirmed as the crop is still in booting stage.
Looking at the response of farmers Dr Muhammad Akhter, Director RRI-KSK, believes that the technology will quickly spread in the rice belt.