Emerging impact of direct dry-seeded rice in the semi-arid region of IndiaJB Soriano1, SP Wani1, AN Rao2, KH Anantha1, KL Sahrawat1, JAC Gowda1, A Rathore1

1International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru - 502 324, Telangana State, India2ICRISAT Development Center and International Rice Research Institute -South Asia Hub at ICRISAT, Patancheru - 502 324, Telangana State, India

Around 24 million ha of the 141 million ha cultivable lands of India are kept fallow in some cropping season of the year due to limited canal water supply, insufficient rainfall and lackof resources for cultivation. Fallow paddy fields can be used for growing crops during the post-rainy season by utilizing residual moisture and improved nutrient management practiceswith minimum supplemental irrigation. Improving the production of food crops to meet the increasing demand, enhancing resource use efficiency and farm income, and sustainingbetter rice-based cropping systems are major challenges in the semi-arid region that should be addressed extensively.

Field studies were conducted inRaichur district of Karnatakastate, India to assess theperformance of direct dry-seeded rice cultivars (SambaMahsuri, Gangavathi Sona andPrasanna) during the rainyseason 2013 and 2014 inrotation with dryland crops(chickpea, mustard and greengram) following rice during the2013-14 and 2014-15 post-rainyseasons.

Sowing in zero-tilled field DDSR field Chickpea Green Gram Mustard

DDSR field at vegetative stage

Performance of DDSR-based cropping systems

a Mean grain yield of Gangavathi Sona; b Mean results of transplanted rice (TPR) system from 15 rice farmers within the experimental site; c Significance levels compared totransplanted rice: ns P>0.05, * P<0.05, ** P<0.01.

Production or cropping system

Mean grain yield (t ha

-1) Rice

equivalent yield

(t ha-1

yr-1

)

Production efficiency

(%)

Productivity Cost of

production (US$ ha

-1 yr

-1)

Net returns (US$ ha

-1 yr

-1)

B: C ratio

Economic efficiency

(%) Rainy

season

Post- rainy

season

Land (US$ ha

-1)

Water (US$ m

-3

water ha-1

)

Labor (US$ ha

-1)

DDSRa - Chickpea 4.08 1.06 5.28 *

c 19 2,693 ** 0.26 ** 432 ns 680 * 2,013 ** 2.9:1 34

DDSR - Mustard 4.08 0.28 4.54 ns 2 2,317 ** 0.23 ** 415 ns 607 ** 1,710 ns 2.8:1 14

DDSR - Green Gram 4.08 0.48 5.00 * 13 2,548 ** 0.25 ** 460 ns 640 * 1,907 ** 2.9:1 27

Transplanted Riceb 4.43 - 4.43 - 2,194 0.16 424 753 1,504 2.0:1 -

Conclusion

Cropping system involving direct dry-seeding of Gangavathi Sona, followed bychickpea achieved higher productionefficiency, land and water productivity,and economic returns compared to TPRsystem.

• The yield difference among dryland crops was attributed to bothbiomass production and harvest index

Yield, biomass and harvest index

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

2013 2014

Gra

in y

ield

(t

ha-1

)

0.0

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4.0

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2013 2014

Abo

ve-g

roun

d bi

omas

s (t

ha-1

)

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90

2013 2014

Har

vest

inde

x (%

)

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2013-14 2014-15

Gra

in y

ield

(t

ha-1

)

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0.6

0.8

1.0

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2013-14 2014-15

Abo

ve-g

roun

d bi

omas

s (t

ha-1

)

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30

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100

2013-14 2014-15

Har

vest

inde

x (%

)

Chickpea Mustard Green Gram

ab a

b

a a

b

a

c

b

b a

c

a a

a

b a

b

a a a

a

c

b

a

b

a

a

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a

b b

a

b ab

Resource use

• Medium maturing rice cultivars must be used if sowing time can be done within the month of June, whileearly maturing rice cultivars is recommended if sowing time can be done between 1st and 2nd week of July

• Sowing of chickpea and green gram can be done from 4th week of October up to 2nd week of November, whilesowing of mustard must be adjusted from 4th week of October until 1st week of November

20

60

100

140

180

2013 2014

Land

use

(day

ha-1

)

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

2013 2014

Wat

er u

se (m

3ha

-1)

54

58

62

66

70

2013 2014

Labo

r us

e (d

ay h

a-1)

0

10

20

30

40

2013-14 2014-15

Labo

r us

e (d

ay h

a-1)

Chickpea Mustard Green Gram

0

100

200

300

400

2013-14 2014-15

Wat

er u

se (m

3ha

-1)

0

20

40

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120

2013-14 2014-15

Land

use

(day

ha-1

)

a

b

c

a a

c

b

c

a

a

c

b

a a a

a a a

a b b a a

b

a b c

a b c

a b

c a a

b

DDSR field at vegetative stage

This study was carried out as part of the Bhoo-Samrudhi project which was initiated by the Government of Karnataka and coordinated by ICRISAT Development Center with the participation of various CGIARinstitutions including IRRI, Joint Department of Agriculture and University of Agricultural Sciences Raichur, Karnataka state, India. Valuable support of the participating farmers during the conduct of the fieldexperiments is much appreciated.