Experiences of Farmers in India Experiences of Farmers in ... - AgSri
Experiences of Farmers in India Experiences of Farmers in ... - AgSri
Experiences of Farmers in India Experiences of Farmers in ... - AgSri
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
<strong>Farmers</strong>’ <strong>Experiences</strong><br />
suffered a Stem-borer attack, he managed the situation with Prepanophos. Pest<br />
attacks have decreased s<strong>in</strong>ce SRI was adopted.<br />
Innovations and modifications<br />
Ravichandran modified the Weeder by provid<strong>in</strong>g ridges.<br />
Benefits<br />
Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Ravichandran, SRI would give a good yield provided the pr<strong>in</strong>ciples<br />
are followed as a package without deviation. SRI is a very good way for seed<br />
multiplication.<br />
Constra<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>in</strong> adoption<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Fragmented hold<strong>in</strong>gs: this is a problem for <strong>in</strong>termittent wett<strong>in</strong>g and dry<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
s<strong>in</strong>ce irrigat<strong>in</strong>g and dra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> one field will depend on the next field <strong>of</strong> another<br />
farmer.<br />
S<strong>in</strong>gle seedl<strong>in</strong>g transplantation cannot be practiced <strong>in</strong> low ly<strong>in</strong>g areas.<br />
If it ra<strong>in</strong>s with<strong>in</strong> the first 15 days after transplantation, then there is not much<br />
hope for the seedl<strong>in</strong>g; hence selection <strong>of</strong> season becomes very important.<br />
Today, the government pressure, target-fix<strong>in</strong>g and subsidy talk are very high<br />
and SRI cannot work on just <strong>in</strong>centives and reach<strong>in</strong>g targets.<br />
Lessons learnt<br />
Though practic<strong>in</strong>g SRI for the past five years, Ravichandran noted that some<br />
important features such as transplant<strong>in</strong>g young seedl<strong>in</strong>gs, fewer seedl<strong>in</strong>gs per-hill,<br />
wider spac<strong>in</strong>g, controlled irrigation, and application <strong>of</strong> Rotary Weeder had been<br />
sporadically practiced <strong>in</strong> his village by his uncle V.K. Janakiraman as early as <strong>in</strong><br />
1970. However, all the practices were not carried out <strong>in</strong> synergy and were eventually<br />
given up <strong>in</strong> spite <strong>of</strong> the benefits, as there were no scientific studies at that time. He<br />
considers it as a bless<strong>in</strong>g for the farm<strong>in</strong>g fraternity that scientific <strong>in</strong>terpretations are<br />
now done for each component <strong>of</strong> SRI.<br />
Whenever his farmer colleagues ask him to expla<strong>in</strong> SRI briefly, he tells them that it<br />
is like a two-wheeler motorcycle which gives more mileage under ideal conditions<br />
such as the fitness <strong>of</strong> the bike, ideal air-pressure <strong>of</strong> the tyres, condition <strong>of</strong> the road,<br />
w<strong>in</strong>d direction, and so on. Thus, to atta<strong>in</strong> success with SRI, farmers must provide<br />
ideal conditions and for this they must plan well <strong>in</strong> advance.<br />
77
Change language