Experiences of Farmers in India Experiences of Farmers in ... - AgSri

Madhya Pradesh
Fifth Step: Weed management, pest and disease control was done. Gundhi bug
attack was seen in the field. Quinalfas was applied to control this bug. Some plants
were affected by Khaira disease which was controlled by applying Zink Sulfate at
the rate of 8 kg/acre.
Traditional farm implements like plough, leveler and rope were used. Overall
production was 13 q/acre.
Innovations and modifications
He was excited to adopt this method, because this was altogether a new experience
to all of them. He used salt for seed treatment. This helped in removing poor quality
seeds. Raising of nursery was first time done in his life. Drainage line was prepared
around the nursery bed for proper drainage. Seed rate was very low compared to
conventional method. Plant population was maintained well.
Benefits
In conventional method, he used to use 30-35 kg of seeds. But in SRI, this
quantity was reduced to 3-4 kg. This way he saved 30-32 kg of seeds per
acre.
In conventional method, plant to plant distance was very close thus number
of tillers was less and weed was a major problem. But in SRI, he maintained
distance of 25 cm by 25 cm, therefore he could save time, money and labour
also. Weeds were less and weeding became easy.
Overall, production from conventional method was only 6-7 q/ acre while in SRI
it went up to 13-14 q/acre which was quite high in his area.
Constraints in adoption
Main constraint faced while adopting SRI was maintaining plant to plant and row
to row distance. Farmers were not ready to adopt it completely. They managed
distance according to their understanding.
Lessons learnt
Preparing nursery was completely a new learning for him. Before that he had
never done this way in his field.
Seed treatment using Trychoderma was done first time in his life. To remove
poor quality seeds, salt treatment was done which was also new to him.
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