Why in News?
Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) is in the news because India's top crop research agencies, the ICAR and the National Rice Research Institute, have officially approved and released two new climate-resilient rice varieties specifically bred for DSR: DRR Dhan 92 and CR Dhan 217.
What is Direct Seeded Rice (DSR)?
- Definition: A modern cultivation technique where rice seeds are sown directly into the main agricultural field.
- Contrast to Traditional Method: Unlike the conventional Puddled Transplanted Rice (PTR) method, DSR completely skips the step of growing seedlings in a separate nursery and manual replanting into flooded, puddled muddy fields.
- Soil Requirements: DSR works best on medium-textured (loam) to heavy-textured (clay) soils due to their high water-retention capacity.
Resource & Water Conservation
- Drastic Water Savings: Reduces irrigation water usage by 15% to 35% because fields do not require continuous flooding.
- Fewer Irrigation Rounds: Requires only 15 to 18 irrigation rounds compared to 25 to 27 rounds in the traditional method.
- Groundwater Recharge: Eliminates the "puddling" process that creates an impermeable hard crust beneath the soil layer, thereby facilitating smooth groundwater percolation.
Agronomic & Financial Benefits
- Lower Labour Cost: Minimises labour dependencies, solving peak-season shortages and physical drudgery by eliminating manual transplanting.
- Reduced Cultivation Expenses: Cuts down overhead expenses by approximately ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 per hectare.
- Earlier Crop Maturity: Crops mature 7 to 14 days faster, giving farmers a larger time window to manage paddy stubble and prevent stubble burning.
Environmental Impact
- Lower Methane Emissions: Traditional flooded fields trigger anaerobic decomposition, emitting methane. DSR reduces methane emissions by 30% to 40%.
- Energy Savings: Saves up to 27% of diesel and electricity because heavy tractor pumping for soil puddling and frequent irrigation is minimised.
Challenges and Constraints of DSR
- Severe Weed Infestation: Since fields are not continuously flooded, weeds grow aggressively and compete with rice seedlings for nutrients.
- Higher Seed Costs: Requires a much higher seed rate (around 20–25 kg per hectare) compared to nursery transplanting.
- Seed Exposure: Exposed dry seeds on fields are highly vulnerable to being eaten by birds, rodents, and pests before germination occurs.
- Risk of Lodging: Rice plants grown via DSR sometimes develop shallower root systems, increasing the risk of the crop falling over (lodging) during heavy winds.
The Way Forward
- Breeding Innovations: Developing more advanced traits like anaerobic germination potential and early seedling vigour via gene editing.
- Integrated Weed Management: Deploying herbicide-tolerant (HT) seed varieties alongside strict weed-management protocols.
- Mechanization Support: Encouraging precision tools like seed-cum-fertilizer drills, laser land levellers, and agricultural drones for uniform seed placement.
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