Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR)

In News

• Punjab state has decided to use an ancient broadcasting technique of Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR), to grow rice in this Kharif season.

DSR Method to be practised in Punjab

• Target:
  • The Punjab government has decided to bring an area of 1.2 million hectare (mha) under the Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) method. 
  • The state government had set a target of a million hectares last year but could bring only 0.6 mha under DSR.
• Reason for DSR’s popularity: 
  • It picked up more during 2020 when Punjab and Haryana faced a labour crunch caused by migration of workers during the COVID-19 lockdown and farmers shifted to DSR, which is not labour-intensive.
• Field preparation: 
  • The field is laser levelled and a pre-sowing (rauni) irrigation is done. 
  • The field is prepared to optimum soil moisture condition and paddy (non-basmati) is seeded immediately. 
• Useful in Different Soils: 
  • Recommendation for DSR in 2010 was only for medium to heavy textured soils, but demonstrations in 2020 showed the refined DSR technology can work even in sandy loam soils.

Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) Technique

• Direct seeding is a method under which pre-germinated seeds are directly drilled into the field by a tractor-powered machine.
• DSR is also called the ‘broadcasting seed technique’.
• There is no nursery preparation or transplantation involved in this method. 
• In this, water is replaced by real chemical herbicides and farmers have to only level their land and give one pre-sowing irrigation.
  • The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has developed a ‘Lucky Seed Drill’ that can both sow seeds and simultaneously spray herbicides to control weeds. 

• Difference Between DSR & Normal Transplantation

• In transplanting, farmers prepare nurseries where the paddy seeds are first sown and raised into young plants. These seedlings are then uprooted and replanted 25-35 days later in the main field.

Advantages of DSR

• Water savings because the first irrigation (apart from the pre-sowing rain) under DSR is necessary only 21 days after sowing. 
  • This technique saves groundwater and thus electricity, as opposed to the traditional water-intensive method. 
  • It can help reduce water consumption by as much as 35 per cent over the traditional process of transplanting rice seedlings from a nursery to waterlogged fields. 
• Less requirement of labour.  
• Reduction in methane emissions and global warming potential
• Little disturbance to soil structure
• Enhanced system productivity

Disadvantages of DSR

• The main issue is the availability of herbicides.
• The seed requirement for DSR is also higher than transplanting. 
•  Land levelling is compulsory in DSR, therefore, increases the cost.
• In the DSR technique plants have to come out properly before the monsoon rains arrive, early sowing is required.
• The DSR method is not suitable on certain types of soil and in such fields only transplanting methods work.

Way Ahead

• There should be regular supply of short duration variety seeds during the DSR period, like during the transplanting period and the government has agreed to that.

Source: DTE