Drought - tolerant rice varieties

 Drought - tolerant rice varieties

Technology 21:

IIRR 8 Row Seeder
Technology Profile

A row seeder (also known as drum seeder) sows the pregerminated paddy seeds in the rows at spacing of 20 cm in puddle soil.  There is saving in the cost of cultivation to the tune of 35 per cent by using this device.

Context

The advantages of the machine are

• Lightness of the machine
  
• Ease of fabrication at any local workshop
  
• Ease of operation with one operator
• Low cost

Direct sowing Row seeder with wider spacing ( 25 cm X 25 cm) SRI - drumseeder:  A row seeder (with a spacing of 25 cm row to row) sows the pregerminated paddy seeds in the rows at a spacing of 25cm in puddle soil. The other principles of SRI can be well adopted with this seeder to enhance the productivity. The drum seeder is under testing at DRR to save seed and enhance profitability.

IIRR 8 Row Drum Seeder

IIRR eight  row- self propelled Seeder

Practical Utility/ Scalability

• No of rows   : 8
• Row spacing, cm        : 20
• Field capacity, ha/h     : 0.235
• Power source  : 4.0 hp Diesel engine
  
• Unit Cost, Rs (approx)    : 55,000
• Cost of operation (Rs/ha) : 740

Carrying out timely operation and reducing cost of cultivation is the prerequisite for enhancing the production and productivity of rice and as well as to make rice cultivation commercially viable and profitable enterprise for the farmers. Selective mechanization can help to achieve this goal. 

Technology /Concept developed by Dr T Vidhan Singh and team.

Technology 20: 
Rice Based Health Care Products 
Rice Riche Pain Relieving Gel   

Rice Pain Relieving Gel is a highly product effective for minor aches and pains of muscles and joints associated with simple strains, bruises and sprains. 

Product Composition 

The  major ingredients of the product are

• Camphor,
• Menthol,
• Methyl salicylate,
• Eucalyptus oil,
• Rice bran oil

Unique Selling Propositions

• The product is a herbal formulation containing rice bran oil as a  carrier.
• Rice bran oil used in this formulation serves as an excellent base for dissolving natural pain relieving  ingredients
• Rice bran oil absorbs well in the skin, thereby active ingredients get absorbed fast and provide quick   relief.

How is the product different from its close  competitors?

• Rice bran oil which has a lot of skin beneficial properties, absorbs very well into the skin. So the ingredients dissolved in the medium, absorb very well and provide quick  relief.
• Products of this category available in the markets have synthetic base and /or synthetic analgesic ingredients

Production cost

• The production cost of the product at laboratory level is Rs. 20/- per 25 g.
• Small scale entrepreneurs can start production. With the investment of Rs. five lakhs, one can produce 50 kg of the product daily.

Rice Riche Face Scrub

Rice Riche Face Scrub is an exfoliation product which has been designed specifically for use on the   face. It removes dead skin cells to give a more polished and healthy look by making skin softer and   brighter.

Product Composition

Main ingredients of the product are

• Rice bran oil,
• Rice flour from broken rice, humectant.
• Gamma oryzanol, tocopherols, tocotrienols which are potent  antioxidants,

Features and benefits

• It keeps skin smooth and glowing by removing dead skin, and exposing a layer of younger, healthier skin.
• Although the product is oil based, it can easily be   washed off with water leaving behind the   skin smooth, soft and moist.
• It protects from the problem of blemishes and dark spots, and flakes around nose and chin area.

How is the product different from similar  products?

• Most of the facial scrubs available in the market contain sharp and hard abrasive particles which are extremely harsh for skin. And after use, application of skin moisturizer becomes  essential.
• In our product, rice grain flour is used as exfoliant which is mild and soft towards the skin. It  can be used regularly.
• After rinsing off, the skin becomes smooth, soft and moist and   does not require application of another moisturizing   cream.

Production cost

Cost of production at laboratory scale  is Rs. 18/ per 100 g.

Iron Riche Rice

Back ground

Anemia caused by iron deficiency is a major public health issue affecting infants, young children and pregnant women. It is linked with an increased risk of maternal mortality, as well as an increased risk of pre-term delivery, retarded foetal growth, etc. This problem can be overcome if the rice which is the staple food of majority of the Indian population, is fortified with iron. Keeping this view in mind, a protocol for production of iron fortified rice was developed with proven results.

Effectiveness of the product

The produced is highly effective in alleviating iron deficiency condition. Hemoglobin level measured in moderately subjects increased from 9.25 to 10.83 g/dl while in subjects with severe anemia increased from 6.77 to 10.36 g/dl.

Unique Selling Proposition

• This product is indistinguishable from unfortified rice.
• The developed protocol is    cheaper and highly cost effective.
• There is no considerable loss of iron on washing with water or when cooked with excess of   water.
• Chance of free radical formation is little as fortificant is uniformly absorbed inside the   grain.

How is the product different from other similar  products?

• Iron of fortified rice produced by conventional methods like dusting and coating, gets washed away when rinsed or cooked with access of water.
• Present Protocol involves uniform absorption of iron into grain and thus there is no considerable loss of iron when rinsed or cooked in excess of water.

Production Cost

Developed fortification protocol involves parboiling process. At laboratory scale, additional cost for iron fortification of one kg paddy will be about  Rs. 5/-. The production cost will be reduced if fortification is done at commercial scale.  

Rice bran oil based low fat spread

This is a rice bran oil based low fat (35%) spread which can be used as substitute of butter and margarine containing more than 80% fat. Further the fats of butter and margarine contain unhealthy saturated fats and trans fats while the Rice bran oil has high concentration of health promoting compounds and balance fatty acid composition.

Main ingredients: Rice bran oil, Water, Broken rice powder

Unique Selling Proposition

• Contains rice bran oil having low fat/oil content (>35%).
• Balance fatty acid composition containing saturated, mono unsaturated, polyunsaturated acids.

How is the product different from other similar products?

• Commercially available product contains high proportion of saturated fats and trans fats which are considered as bad cholesterol enhancing fats.
• The product is made of rice bran oil which is considered as healthy oil.
• Because of rice bran oil, the product contains health promoting components oryzanol, tocopherol etc.

Production cost: At laboratory scale the cost of RBO Spread is equal to the cost of rice bran   oil

Rice riche moisturizing lotion

Rice Moisturizing Lotion is a skin care product. Its regular application makes skin smooth, soft and supple. The antioxidants of the product fight with free radicals and slow down the effect of aging.

Product composition

The major ingredients of the product are

• Rice bran Oil,
• Brown rice extract,
• Water,
• Glycerol as main key ingredients

Unique Selling Proposition

• The starch extracted from brown rice provides moisture to skin slowly but for a longer period of time.
  
• The oil and the brown rice extract contain various skin beneficial ingredients contributing to suppleness, tightening, lightening and preventing dryness of the skin.

How is the product different from other similar  products?

The oil and the brown rice extract contain various skin beneficial ingredients contributing   to

• suppleness,
• tightening,
• lightening and preventing dryness of the skin.
• On account of oryzanol, the product has anti-aging property.

Production cost

At laboratory scale, production cost of 100 g of the product is only Rs.13/-. Small scale entrepreneurs can start business. With facility costing Rs. five lakhs one can produce 50 kg of the product every day.

Rice riche cream for cracked heel and dry skin

This product is useful for therapeutic and cosmetic applications such as cracked heels, dry skin disorder. It softens the heel and the foot skin, preventing the feet and other parts from forming thick and hard skin.

Product composition

The product comprises rice bran oil up to 60%, brown rice extract up to 40%, humectant up to 30%, sequestrant up to 1.0%, preservative, fragrance in acceptable range and sufficient quantity of water to make the formulation 100%. Gamma  oryzanol,  tocopherols,   tocotrienols,   sterols etc are other bioactive minor components present in the product

Features of the product

• The formulation, apart from healing the cracks on heels, is useful in arresting the bleeding due to cracks and reducing the pain.
  
• The cream has the excellent effects of softening the heel and the foot skin. It enhances skin elasticity.
• Interestingly, compared to commercially available products, the recurrence of crack is less severe.
  
• The composition of the formulation is new, very safe, eco-friendly and does not produce any harmful effects.

Effectiveness of the products

• Cracks in heal disappeared within a week, this was reported by the all users (100%).
  
• Majority of the respondents (82.0%) considered this product better / much better than the available products in the market.

Production cost

At laboratory scale, the production cost of 50 g of the product is Rs. 25.50 which can be further reduced it prepared at commercial scale.

Technology 19: 

Rice Knowledge Management Portal (www.rkmp.co.in) 

Technology Profile 

Rice portal is the first step in terms of the application of ICTs and KM strategies in agriculture to build a product like this semantic portal with enormous content. RKMP is the most comprehensive and one stop shop source for credible, validated, relevant and contextual information on rice. 

Built on web 2.0 standards, this portal caters to location specific information needs of many stakeholders (policy makers, farmers, extension professionals, researchers, traders, NGOs etc.,) on 24X7 basis. IP based customization helps individuals to browse through location specific content. Providing content in local language is another striking feature of this portal.

Key features 

• Largest database of Location specific content More than 15000 pages of content on rice
• AICRIP Intranet & 27000 AICRIP Datasets
• Online soil health and fertilizer recommendation system (Fertimeter)
• Complete Image Driven Diagnostic tool
• Two E -Learning Platforms- 14 Courses
• 52 Video clips and 4000 minutes of audio voice- over
• India Rice Research Repository
• 3 Audio Courses & 2 Video Courses
• 45 Theme papers
• Communities of Practice
• GIS map interfaces area, production and productivity
• More than 100 rice recipes and value added products.
• Trade Information System
• Cloud tagging and semantics enabling the content tagging.
• Content available in 7 local languages
• Bio-Informatics Tool for rice researchers
• 150 Recap sheets

Context 

To meet a production target of 125 MT by 2025 coupled with doubling farmers income, productivity of farmers need to be increased primarily targeting the small scale farmers. Indian rice research and rice development programmes have been recognized as successful model endeavors all over the world. Enormous knowledge is continuously being developed different players through different programmes and there is a need to share the knowledge. The least expensive input for any improved rural agricultural development initiative is adequate access to knowledge and information in areas of  new technologies, information on inputs availability, credit, market, value addition. The advent of new age information and communication technologies like Rice Knowledge Management Portal provides enormous opportunities to explore web and mobile based access to rice related information and knowledge. 

Empirical Evidences 

RKMP is recognized as finest ICT innovation by FAO, APAARI, CGIAR system, various national and international agencies. RKMP is the largest resource for e-learning material on any single crop.

www.apaari.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/07/ICT-Success-Stories_09072013.pdf 

‘Rice Knowledge Management Portal’ project (2009-14) was noted for its large scale operations and development and deployment of a number of advanced practices in web and mobile technologies, GIS and learning technologies. Independent observers noted that this effort has transformed the way rice knowledge is harnessed among the stakeholders in India with B: C ratio of 1.46:1.0. This portal is the first national level one-stop-shop for rice knowledge in India, which is a semantic web portal build on web 2.0 standards with 2600 registered users and average online users of 900 per day at any point of time and a total hits of 9,67,000. Perhaps, this is the most comprehensive source for credible containing 15,000 pages of validated, relevant and contextual information on rice to this scale anywhere in the world. 

Practical Utility/ Scalability

The all-rice portal serves as an information highway for rice sector in sharing general rice knowledge along with specific content for 15 states in English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, and Bengali. RKMP hopes to serve the wide range of stakeholders like farmers, extension professionals, researchers, traders, NGOs, policy makers, etc. and help in better planning and realizing higher productivity & production of rice by the farmers through improved knowledge and skill. Through one of its domain exclusive for rice farmers namely “Farmers’ Domain”, the portal provides range of critical information like package of practices and production know how in English and local languages as well provided with the help of the credible information sources like state agricultural universities and various organizations of that particular state. Completely Image Driven Diagnostic tool is developed exclusively for the extension professionals and farmers to diagnose the field problems based on the stage of the crop.  

The largest rice database of location specific content also helps the farmers to know about the soil health and fertilizer recommendation system through online Fertimeter application. Also, the exclusive and exhaustive information on weeds aims to make wise decisions in weed management. To enhance the export opportunities for rice from India, Trade Information System of RKMP delivers the trade information at different markets all over the World and Exports & Imports information of Rice. The portal caters the needs of the other stakeholders through service domain, general domain and E-learning. The portal developed through the latest ICT tools envisions supporting mobile telephony and will also help agricultural departments’ ongoing activities in reaching out to the farmers through extension advisory services, in most effective way. 

The private companies are keen to utilize the portal and Mahindra Samridhi, Savannah Seeds etc., expressed their interest to integrate RKMP along with their activities. RKMP is now blended with various ongoing ICT projects such as Annapurna, KCC, CSC etc. Several ICAR institutes have started emulating the model. 

Technology concept developed by Dr. Shaik N Meera and team

Technology 18:       

Ecological engineering with bund crops for enhancing biological control  and monetary returns 

Technology Profile 

Ecological engineering is the modification of the environment to enhance biological control for sustainable pest management. It involves habitat management for enhancing natural enemy survival and action through increasing floral diversity on rice field bunds. Here we advocate growing a bund crop, application of organic manures and proper water management for management of hoppers. The bund crop may be a vegetable, fodder, pulse or flower crop. Some of the crops tested at IIRR and recommended are African marigold, Blanket flower, Bhendi, Cowpea, Pilipesara, Sun hemp, Coriander, Dill, Fennel and Til/ Sesame. Of these marigold has great potential for Telangana region.

Context 

Need: The major chunk of inputs goes in managing pests and diseases of crops. Farmers resort to multiple sprays to manage a single pest which causes many problems and increases cost of cultivation. Sometimes due to resistance development and resurgence of pests outbreaks occur leading to total crop losses. 

Habitat management techniques keep pest levels low, increase natural biological control and bring down the number of insecticide sprays. 

Areas/ Districts in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh where this gap exists: Rice growing regions of Nalgonda district and major districts of Andhra Pradesh have hopper outbreaks. 

Empirical Evidences 

Field testing results

The technology has been tested in multi-locations in research farms across the country and have been found successful in increasing natural enemies and bring down pest population. It has also been tested in farmers fields at Gangavathi Karnataka and in villages of Nalgonda, Telangana. 

Demonstration yields and incomes 

On farm field demonstrations in 10 acres of farmers’ fields in Nalgonda, Telangana over two years and  four seasons have shown that bund crops can be grown successfully in rice fields. Marigold especially has been found to give good monetary returns when grown on rice bunds. These flowers are used for many purposes like religious rituals, parties, functions and many festivals. The demand for Marigold flowers at the time Dashara and Diwali and Ugadi festivals is very high. Hence retail market price may reach up to 100 to 150 rupees/kg of marigold flowers. Any crop grown on bunds will give multiple benefits such as (i) Increased parasitisation / predation by natural enemies (ii)Extra monetary benefits from the bund crop (iii) Enhancement of soil fertility (iv) Suppression of weeds on bunds. 

Practical Utility/ Scalability    

The average length of rice bunds per acre is 300 m. We require 100 seedlings to plant an acre of bunds,  the cost being Rs. 3500. Calculating at 4 kg per plant, the yield from an acre is 4000 kg. At an average selling price of Rs. 25 per kg, a farmer can get Rs 100000 per acre. Bhendi also fetches good returns while pulses provide the much needed protein requirements of the farmers’ household. The technology has also been demonstrated to other farmers through field days extension brochures which indicated an interest in adopting the technology.  Ecological engineering consists of simple cultural management which can be easily adopted by farmers. Creating local farmer’s market unions can help market the produce and increase the area sown with marigold as bund crop tremendously.
 

Technology / Concept developed by Dr Chitra Shanker and team 

Technology 17:

Participatory IPM in Rice 

Technology Profile 

Participatory IPM technology involves management of pests (including insects, diseases and weeds)in a holistic way in farmers’ rice fields involving them in a participatory way and allowing them to select IPM practices from a basket of options available. Knowledge and information are keys to correct pest management decisions. IPM implementation involves certain skills and knowledge that help in identification of pest and also their susceptible stages for effective management. As IPM involves a number of components, farmers must have capability of taking decisions and selecting IPM options accordingly for economical and long term management. Most of these options also need to be refined at individual farm level keeping in view the availability and feasibility of farmers.  Therefore, IPM involves working with the farmers in their fields and devising/refining technologies suitable to their conditions. 

Context 

Need: Biotic constraints especially insect pests, weeds and diseases are key constraints of rice productivity in India with estimated avoidable crop losses of 26.3 Mt with a value of Rs. 9465 crores. Keeping this in view, it is very important to devise and adopt eco-friendly pest management practices. 

Existing practices: Most popular rice varieties grown include BPT 5204, Swarna, MTU 1010 and MTU 1001 which are highly susceptible to these pests. Farmers are completely dependent on toxic pesticides for their management. Indiscriminate use of insecticides including synthetic pyrethroids and combination products was the main reason for heavy incidence of majority of insect pests like BPH, leaf folder. Farmers were taking up 8 to 10 sprays in a season and most of the times repeating the same insecticide. 

Area: All the major rice growing districts in both the States which includes Nalgonda, Karimnagar,  Khammam, Warangal districts in Telangana State, East and West Godavari, Guntur, Krishna districts in Andhra Pradesh State. 

Empirical Evidences 

Field testing results: Preliminary IPM trials were conducted in 2 farmer’s fields in Chillapuram (Mr. Saida Naik) and Thungapadu (Mr. Chenna Reddy) villages of Miryalguda mandal in Nalgonda district during 2012 and in 3 farmer’s fields in Annarao camp (Sri Satish), Chillapuram (Sri Nagu Naik) and Kampasagar (Sri Janardhan) during 2013. During Kharif 2014, participatory IPM program was conducted in 3 thandas viz., Balajinagar thanda, Badya thanda and Nimya thanda of Damarcherla mandal, Nalgonda district of Telangana State covering 25 hectares. Major pests observed were brown planthopper (BPH), leaf folder, leaf mite, panicle mite, blast, false smut, sheath rot and grain discolouration. Grassy weeds were predominant followed by broad leaved weeds and sedges. BPH incidence was observed from 45 DAT and exceeded ETL at 100 DAT with more than 50 hoppers per hill  in farmers’ practices (Table.1). Leaf folder incidence was found high in IPM plot (21.25%) than farmer  practices (16.50%). Sheath blight damage was observed low (< 5%) whereas false smut incidence was high at Annarao camp during 2013 at harvest stage. Weed population and weed biomass were significantly low in IPM plots, contributing to higher resource availability to rice crop. Grain yield was high in IPM resulting in high returns and high BC ratio (4.85) as against farmers’ practices (2.44). The study created awareness among farmers about pests, symptoms of damage and natural enemies along with the stages observed in the field for easy identification. The study reduced the indiscriminate use of insecticides and about 80% farmers adopted alleyways for the management of planthoppers.

Practical Utility/ Scalability

IPM technology has the potential to realistically demonstrate the impact on the livelihood of farmers. There is scope for significant change in knowledge levels of the farmers after exposure to on-farm trials and frequent interaction of the farmers with scientists through the participatory approach. Since it involves exposure to improved crop management techniques, opportunity to visit rice research stations and farmers training programmes, participation in field days, rice IPM can be made more farmers friendly. The increase in awareness among the farmers, adoption of environment friendly and non pesticidal components as part of rice IPM can significantly help in reducing pesticide use in farmers’ fields resulting in reduced cost of cultivation with improved management of biotic stresses, environmental benefits to their families and safety to human health. As we have the experience of doing on-farm activities, it is possible to scale up the activity with the active involvement of various stakeholders viz., IIRR scientists, State Agricultural Universities scientists, State agriculture department officials, KVK staff, farmer organisations, input dealers and other related NGOs. 

Technology / Concept developed by Padmavathi Ch, Gururaj Katti,  Sreedevi B, Mahender Kumar R, Krishnaveni D and Sreenivas Prasad M

Technology 16:

Aromatic  rice as a trap crop for stem borer management in rice

Technology Profile

The use of aromatic rice variety (Pusa Basmati1) variety as ‘Trap crop’ for the management of yellow stem borer has been successful. Studies were carried out to explore the possibility of using a susceptible variety as a trap crop to wean way the pest from damaging the main crop. Initial efforts made at ICARIIRR revealed the utility of aromatic varieties of rice in trapping the larvae of yellow stem borer which were attracted to these varieties more. Than the non aromatic lines. Of the many varieties tested, Pusa Basmati-1 was found to be the most susceptible aromatic variety which when planted in the main field can help in minimizing the damage to the main crop. The duration of the main crop and the trap crop were considered based on which the date of sowing was adjusted so that the trap crop would come to booting a week earlier than the main crop. However, planting of main crop and trap crop was done at the same time. Planting of one row of Pusa Basmati-1 as trap crop, preferably in east– west direction, for every 2.5-3m of main crop, resulted in effectively managing the pest in the main field planted with popular variety. The stem borer damage observed in the main crop was half of the damage that was recorded in the trap crop. By adopting this practice in a stem borer endemic area, impulsive spraying of chemical pesticides against yellow stem borer could be avoided at the vegetative stage. The yield was higher in the main crop where trap crop was grown compared to the fields without the trap crop. Also, though the yield in trap crop was affected due to higher pest damage the resulting yield from the trap crop would still be of added advantage as aromatic rice fetches premium price.

Context

• Yellow stem borer a major pest of rice causes damage from seedling to grain filling stage resulting in significant yield losses which may range from 10-90%.
• Timing of application of any control is crucial for achieving its efficacy in reduction in pest damage.
• Potential losses incurred by farmers by continuing with the status quo
• This gap exists in areas/ districts in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
• All the rice growing districts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Empirical Evidences 

• Field testing The practice has been successfully tested with varieties as main crop like Swarna, BPT5204, Prakash, PA6444, MTU1010, Krishnahamsa, private hybrids in erstwhile districts of Medak, RangaReddy, Mahaboobnagar and Nalgonda through on-farm trials and FLDs.
• The dead heart damage did not cross 10%.
• Irrespective of the variety, damage in the main crop is reduced to half of that in the trap crop.
• In a stem borer endemic area, one impulsive spraying of chemical pesticides can be avoided at the vegetative stage. This would help in conserving the natural enemies. This a form of Habitat management.
• Pusa Basmati 1 being a premier scented variety, fetches more price in the market. Hence the cost benefit ratio is always favourable and is = 1.5 :1.
• It is an eco- friendly pest management strategy to control YSB by manipulating the pest habitat.

Demonstration yields and incomes

• Increases income by improving productivity
• Reduced cost of cultivation with Resource Use Efficiency / Opportunity costs with better pest/ disease management
• Increased cropping Intensity – Farming system approach
• Digital strategies to drive science led rice farming
• Supply & value  chain management – Better Markets 

Practical Utility/ Scalability 

• This would assure season long control irrespective of the timing of moth emergence or pest incidence in the field.
• Cost of one insecticidal application is reduced as the damage in the main crop will be maintained below ETL in most of the situations.
• Hence there’s positive effect on the ecosystem services which is beyond quantification.
• The technology was tested across ecosystems with varieties like Karjat 3, Rajendra Kasturi, Jyoti, Swarna, TPS 3, ADT 36, BPT5204, in multilocation evaluation under All India coordinated trials for 3 years and found effective in reducing stem borer damage with favourable benefit cost ratio.
  
• The B: C ratio though favourable would vary with the value of the main crop variety, level of infestation or pest incidence. 

Precautions 

• This is for only stem borer management hence suggested for stem borer endemic areas. So other biotic stresses may be tackled as per the need.
• Availability of seed at the right time.
• Convincing the labourers to plant one row in between the main crop ie. after 3m.
• Harvesting the trap crop before harvesting the main crop when mechanical harvesters are in vogue.
• This practice cannot be used in seed production plots.
• To tackle the pest complex  in times of severity.
• Care must be excercised when recommending in blast endemic areas as the aromatic variety is susceptible to blast. 

Technology / Concept developed by Drs A.P. Padmakumari, Gururaj Katti and IC Pasalu

Technology 15:

Soil Testing Kit

Technology Profile

• The kit is useful for carrying out soil testing in and saves from wasteful expenditures of costlier fertilizers
  
• It address the problem of non availability of quality soil testing equipments or laboratories across districts and villages. Therefore helps in cost cutting.
  
• The kit after causing the need of soil testing, he can apply the fertilizers as required therefore helps in balanced fertilization and nutrition of the crops and the cropping systems
  
• A farmer can generate his own soil health card also after analysing his sample. by way of Increasing incomes by improving productivity

Context

Existing practices – what are the problems with the existing situation/ technology- Soils have to be repeatedly and massively tested. Therefore current lack of equipments and laboratories hampering this exercise.

Due to non testing of soils wasteful expenditure on costlier fertilizers happening.

Across Telangana  and AP this problem exists.

Empirical Evidences

Field testing results- For last more then 5 yrs the kit based demonstrations and analysis is being done

across the regions of Telangana

Demonstration yields and incomes

• Soil testing is key to balanced fertilization and plant nutrition.
• Aim of the kit is to simplify the soil chemical analysis for ready use by the less skilled personals in the rural areas by the soil testing laboratories and rural service centres.
• The Soil quality testing kit offers simplified methods for determination of available nutrients from soils and is  rapid, fairly accurate chemical tests.
• A farmer can generate his own soil health card also after analysing his sample.

Practical Utility/ Scalability

Mobile van Agriclinic Soil Testing camp at Chakram Thanda, Miryalguda, Nalgonda district, Telangana. Interpreting soil test results and recommending how to economize fertilizer doses . The knowledge of how to use judiciously the costly fertilizers will save a lot of money for the farming community and will aid effectively in doubling their farm income

Technology / Concept developed by Dr. Brajendra and team

Technology 14:

Multi variety green manuring for sodic soil management

Green manure crops Control field GM added crop Demonstration plot

Technology Profile
Organic sources are known to improve the soil conditions and green manuring was a recommended practice for problematic soils. The multi variety green manuring technique, popularly known as Dhabolkarmethod  for  management of problematic soils, was tested in the selected farmers’ fieldsby providing  multi variety green manure seed consisting of 15-20 types of seeds including cereals, pulses, oil seeds, green manures and spices @ 20 kg/ac. Green manure crops were grown for 45 days and incorporated into the soil before puddlingand then rice was  transplanted.

Context
Sodicity/alkalinity is a major soil problem in many districts of Telangana and many farmers from different villages of Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts  expressed  the problem of  soil sodicity  that is causing yield reduction to an extent of 50-60% than normal yields. Hence, it was felt that management of these sodic soils would be ideal in these villages. Consequently, a field survey was done and most problematic soils were selected for demonstration of the technology under FLDs for four years in four villages of two districts of Telangana.

Empirical Evidences

Field testing results

• The difference between  demonstration plot and control plot were very clear where control plot showed nutritional deficiencies due to alkalinity problem  and treated plots were green showing good crop growth.
  
• Higher yields were recorded in sodic soils due to improvement in plant population, crop stand, crop growth, more number of tillers and panicles
  
• The yield improvement ranged from 16.1 to 31% due to improved practice over control
  
• The soil data indicated different degrees of improvement in soil properties where the was reduction in pH and improvement in organic carbon and other nutrients to a greater extent in some fields and there was a little improvement in other fields in a two year period.
  

Practical Utility/ Scalability

• By using this simple technology of growing diverse crops as green manures the soil physical, fertility and biological properties will be improved and increases the yield of rice crop.
  
• It converts problem soils into fertile soils.
  
• It improves soil health as well as plant health and increases the farmer’s income by increasing the yield.
  
• Government can encourage this practice in problem soil areas by providing subsidy for the seed material.

Technology / Concept developed by Dr. K. Surekha and team

Technology 13: 

Aerobic system of  Rice cultivation 

DRRDhan44 under aerobic system- 54% water saving – Nandaram, Vikarabad Dist. Telangana

Broadcasting Aerobic Rice – Machilipatnam Guntur Dist, Sprinkler System, Ananthapur Dist. Andhra Pradesh

Technology Profile 

Aerobic rice is a viable option where the shortage of water does not allow the growing of lowland rice. It is growing rice like an upland crop, such as wheat, on non-flooded aerobic soils without stress, thereby eliminating continuous seepage and percolation and greatly reducing evaporation. 

Brief description of the technology 

• The cultivation package developed, recommended, demonstrated and implemented by the farmers included 
• High yielding drought tolerant short duration varieties e.g., DRRDhan42, DRRDhan 44 and DRRDhan46 @20-30kg/ha seed rate
  
• Well ploughed, and no or very little clods/clumps in field is required like any dry land crops.
• Sowing by dibbling or drilling at 2-3 cm depth, at a spacing of 20-25 X5cm for HYVs and 25-30X10  cm for Hybrids.
  
• Pre-sowing herbicide application of Glyphophate @2.5 to 5 l/ha in the main field 15 days before field preparation. Application of pendimethalin @ /ha within 3 days of sowing and penoxsulam+cyhalotofop butyl @2.5 l/ha. at  20-30 DAS (2-4 leaf stage of weeds)
• 50%Nitrogen should be applied at 10-12 days after rice emergence, 25% at maximum vegetative stage (45 DAS), 25% N, 25% K at 50% flowering stage is recommended. If Iron deficiency is noticed, spraying of ferrous sulphate @2.0% ferrous sulphate 3 to 4 times at weekly interval.
  
• Upon noticing visible symptoms of hairline cracks on soil surface, irrigation is needed to maintain soil at field capacity. Maintenance of saturated condition at critical stages of Active Tillering,Panicle Initiation, Flowering to grain filling stage is essential.
• Need based application of plant protection chemicals

Context

Need: This can increase cropping intensity and income by growing short duration aerobic rice in kharif and safflower/sunflower in early rabi and vegetables in summer season where water scarcity, labor scarcity, high labor wages and poor economic status of farmers is a problem. 

Existing practices: When water is limited farmers donot grow rice though they are in need of the staple Crop. Majority of the rice farmers practice flooding irrigation. 

Areas: Wasting of precious water with wrong notion that flooding is compulsory for rice. In majority of the rice growing areas in Telangana and Andhrapradesh. 

Empirical Evidences

Demonstration yields and incomes 

• Water saving of 30 to 56% compared to conventional flooded irrigation. Aerobic rice requires only  470 to 644 mm water
• By reduced cost of cultivation with Opportunity costs with fertilizers, pesticides
• By way of increasing cropping intensity, crop productivity and income

Practical utility/Scalability 

Demonstrations were successful and other rice farmers in the Demo villages are asking for provision of technology and inputs.

Some Progressive farmers are practicing aerobic rice cultivation successfully even with drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation 

Technology / Concept developed by Dr. B. Sreedevi and team

Technology 12: 

Rice-maize cropping system for more productivity and profitability 

Technology Profile 

Rice–maize (R–M) systems are rapidly expanding in South Asia, India, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh due to higher yield and profit potential from rabi (winter) maize, its reduced water requirement compared to rice–rice systems, and increasing demand from poultry and fish feed industries. 

Context 

Need – Increase productivity and more profitability 

Existing practices- Majority of the rice farmers practice rice–rice, rice-pulse, rice-oilseed cultivation  which consumes more water and less profitable 

Potential losses: Crop roductivity loss upto 31.4% and gross profit upto ₹ 18638 / ha 

Areas: In majority of the rice growing areas in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. 

Empirical Evidences 

Demonstration yields and incomes 
System productivity increased by 30% and net profit of ₹ 10000 / ha 

Practical utility/Scalability

• Rice-maize area can be expanded upto 0.53 mha in India
• Net profitability can be increased to 530 crore for 0.53 mha (₹ 10000 / ha)
• Already the system is followed in 0.53 mha in India and some patches of rice-rice (4.7 mha), rice-rice-rice (0.04 mha), rice-wheat (9.2 mha)and rice-pulses (3.5 mha) area can be diversified to rice-maize system

Technology / Concept developed by Dr. M.D. Tuti and team

Technology 11: 

Integrated Weed Management (IWM) in Rice 

Technology Profile 

The IWM package developed, recommended, demonstrated and implemented by the farmers included 

• High yielding high zinc medium duration variety DRRDhan 45.
• Adoption of recommended seed rate of 30kg/ha.
• Drum seeding under puddle condition/ transplanting.
• Pre-sowing herbicide application of Glyphophate @2.5 to 5 l/ha in the main field 15 days before field preparation for drum seeder sowing.
• Application of pyrozosulfuron ethyl @ 200gm/ha within 3 days of sowing.
• Application of penoxsulam+cyhalotofop butyl @2.5 l/ha.at tillering stage to control second flush of broadspectrum weed flora
• Top dressing nitrogen only after weeding operation
• Need based application of plant protection chemicals 

Context 

Need – Due to labor scarcity, high labor wages and  non availability at the critical stages 

Existing practices- Majority of the rice farmers practice manual hand weeding 

Potential losses : Expenditure on  manual hand weeding is nearly double the  expenditure on IWM 

Areas: In majority of the rice growing areas in Telangana and Andhrapradesh 

Empirical Evidences 

Demonstration yields and incomes 

• By reduced cost of cultivation with Opportunity costs with better weed management
• By way of  increasing income by improving productivity

Table 4:  IWM in Farmers field Demonstration  for increasing income 

Practical utility/Scalability

• Demonstrations were successful and other rice farmers in the Demo villages are asking for provision of technology and inputs. 
• Progressive rice farmers are practicing IWM successfully 
• The farmers who understood the benefits of the technology are not going back to manual hand weeding. 

Technology / Concept developed by Dr. B. Sreedevi and team

Technology 10: 

Alternate wetting and drying method of Irrigation for rice to enhance the productivity and water use efficiency

Technology Profile

Irrigated rice occupies 50% area and contributes nearly 70% to total rice production of the country with an average yield of 3.1 t/ha.  India’s food security largely depends on irrigated rice which consumes nearly 50- 60% of our finite fresh water resources. Flooded rice requires 900-2250 mm of water (average 1500 mm) depending on the water management, soil and climatic factors. 

• Rice requires about 3000-4000 lts for producing 1 kg of grain
• AWD is also called ‘intermittent irrigation’ or ‘controlled irrigation’
• Alternate flooding Compared with the traditional continuous flooding system, AWD using lowland rice cultivars can reduce water input by 15-30% without any yield loss
• It can be practiced with Bouman’s tube . 

Context 

Need – Water saving is must in rice as it consumes > 50% of irrigation water of crops Existing practices- Flooding the field and inundation of 5-10 cm in the feild requires more than 1500mm ha  

Potential losses: Water loss, Nutrient losses, soilpollution, reduced productivity 

Areas: In all rice growing areas in Telangana and Andhrapradesh especially borewell irrigated area where controlled irrigation is practiced 

Empirical Evidences

Demonstration yields and incomes 

• AWD is also called ‘intermittent irrigation’ or ‘controlled irrigation’
• Alternate flooding Compared with the traditional continuous flooding system, AWD using lowland rice cultivars can reduce water input by 15-30% without yield loss 

Practical utility/Scalability 

• Saving in 30% of water input
• Enhancing the water productivity
• Reduced incidence of pests and diseases
• Increase in productivity
• Very easy to scale up
• More than 500 farmers adopted it and found promising 

Technology / Concept developed by Dr. R.M. Kumar and team

Technology 9: 

Modified Leaf Colour Chart for Enhancing the Nitrogen Use Efficiency and Reducing the Cost of Cultivation 

Technology Profile 

Rice yields are decelerating or stagnating with indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers, especially nitrogenous one due to its easy availability and cheaper cost causing environmental pollution and more incidences of pests and diseases. The tendency of increased application of N fertilizer is very common with our farmers, as they attribute the crop greenness and growth due to N application to yields of the rice crop.  Blanket   or package fertilizer recommendations   over large areas are not efficient because of indegenous nutrient supply varies among rice fields.  

• Hence there is a need to synchronize N fertilizer application to plant needs to optimize nutrient use and minimize environmental pollution
• The customized LCC developed at IIRR, Hyderabad on the basis of spectral evaluation of leaves of hundreds of varieties under different N levels can be used for real time N management by using the N application schedules (20-30 kg N/ha depending on the crop stage).

 Context 

Need: Balanced N application, timely application, as per the need of the crop Existing practices: General broadcasting and application of higher nitrogen (2-3 times more than  recommended Potential losses: Nutrient losses, soil pollution, enhancing the pests and diseases Areas: In all rice growing areas in Telangana and Andhrapradesh 

Empirical Evidences 

Demonstration yields and incomes 

Increased N fertilizer efficiency at high yield levels is possible in hybrids and high-yielding varieties using a chlorophyll meter and LCC to monitor leaf N status and guide fertilize N timing in irrigated rice. These methods not only reduced N requirement (25%) but also improved  congruence  of N supply  and crop demand than fixed timing of N application treatment 

Practical utility/Scalability 

• Saving in cost of nitrogen by 25%
• Improved soil health due to less Urea
• Reduced incidence of pests and diseases
• Most suited for irrigated rice system

Scalability: 

• Already most of the State governments are supplying to Farming community
• Very easy to scale up
• Simple devise and practicable

Approximately 2 lakh farmers are using in the country in different stattes

Technology / Concept developed by Dr. R.M. Kumar and team

Technology 8:

SRI method for resource conservation, profitability and sustainable rice production 

Technology Profile 

The future of country’s rice production will depend heavily on developing and adopting strategies and practices that use irrigation water efficiently at the farm level.  System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is one such method which has a potential to produce more rice with less water.  Until 1990, the impression was that rice yields better only under flooded conditions. Hence, Water saving technologies in rice is the need of the hour and SRI method which had been tested for last one decade at IIRR and AICRIP programme is one technology which can save resources to more than 30%. 

Context 

Need: Increase productivity, reduced cost of cultivation, enhancing the soil productivity Existing  practices- Majority of the rice farmers practice flooded rice cultivation which consumes 1200 mm ha of water  Potential losses: Water losses, productivity and profitability to an extent of 30% 

Areas: In majority of the rice growing areas in Telangana and Andhrapradesh especially suited for Borewell 46% (DRR, 2005-2014) 

Empirical Evidences 

Demonstration yields and incomes 

SRI spaces rice plants more widely and does not depend on continuous flooding of rice fields. It uses lesser seed, chemical inputs and promotes soil biotic activities in and around the root zone, due to liberal applications of compost and weeding with a rotating hoe that aerates the soil. These changed practices with lower inputs lead to enhanced yields with considerable savings of inputs especially the water which is becoming scarce over the years. Grain yield increase by 10-25% and water use decreased by 29%. 

Practical utility/Scalability 

1. Saving in seed cost to the extent of 60%
2. Improved soil health due to use of orgnaics
3. Reduced incidence of pests and diseases
4. Eco-friendly method of rice cultivation
5. Most suited for hybrid rice cultivation and quality seed production
6. Already the Practice is followed in 53 countries across the world
7. A million farmers in India are practicing the principles of SRI method
   

Technology / Concept developed by Dr. R.M. Kumar and team

Technology 7:

DNA marker-based assay for rapid and reliable estimation of genetic purity  of seeds of Rice Hybrids and Parental lines

Technology Profile 

Seed quality control in terms of maintenance of genetic purity is a vital component of any hybrid crop seed industry. Traditionally, seed purity is ascertained through a morphological assay called ‘Grow-out Test (GOT)’, which has several limitations 

ICAR-IIRR, Hyderabad has developed a DNA marker-based assay for rapid and reliable estimation of purity of seeds of rice hybrids and parental lines. 

Hybrid seed purity is assessed on single seed/seedling basis using a parental polymorphic SSR marker, which is specific for a particular rice hybrid or using a functional marker, named RMS-PPR9-2, which targets the candidate gene for Rf4, the major fertility restoring gene. 

For assessing genetic purity of seeds of WA-CMS lines (i.e. the female parent used for hybrid seed production), a functional marker, named RMS-5-WA352, which is specific for the candidate gene associated with cytoplasmic male sterility is deployed to accurately discriminate WA-CMS lines from the maintainer lines. 

Context 

Most of the private hybrid rice seed industry is based in and around Hyderabad and seed production is generally done during Rabi season. Even a 1% contamination in seeds of rice hybrids can reduce the crop yields by 100 kg/ha. Similarly, 1% impurity in seeds of WA-CMS line can result in significantly higher level of impurities in hybrid seed production (i.e. > 5%).  Due to this, seed genetic purity and seed quality control are vital for success of hybrid rice seed industry. 

As GOT takes one full growing season and the private companies cannot wait for the results of GOT, a rapid and reliable assay for assessing seed purity is imperative. In this context, the DNA marker based assay developed by ICAR-IIRR can help the hybrid seed industry to accurately identify impure seedlots quickly. 

The DNA marker based assay for hybrids and WA-CMS lines can be deployed immediately after the harvest of the seeds in Rabi season and the analysis is based on single seed/seedling. Results can be made available within a fortnight of submission and decision for marketing the pure seeds can be taken before the commencement of the Kharif season. 

Empirical Evidences 

Blind tests and commercial analysis of seed-lots 

Through Blind tests carried out in collaboration with Hybrid rice section and also with samples provide by private seed companies, the assay was able to accurately identify contaminants in seed-lots of rice hybrids and WA-CMS lines. 

From 2007, ICAR-IIRR is providing the DNA-marker based assay for assessment of impurities in seedlots of rice Hybrids and parental lines on a commercial scale to several public and private sector seed companies. So far, we have successfully completed analysis for more than 1200 seed-lots and the results were deemed to be accurate by the clients. We are also working on using some of the high-throughput tools for analysis of bulked samples, thus saving cost and time. 

Practical Utility/ Scalability 

The assay is presently offered on a single seed/seedling basis and results can be made available within 10-15 days of submission of samples. We are presently working towards utilizing some of the high throughput tools for estimation of purity on bulked sample basis. Once the assay is standardized, results can be provided within 3-4 days of submission of samples. 

Technology / Concept developed by Dr. Raman Meenakshi Sundaram and team

Technology 6:

Hybrid Rice Seed Production

Technology Profile 

Hybrid rice technology is playing a pivotal role in increasing the rice production and productivity in India and is one of the components of ‘National Food security Mission’ which was launched in 2007 with an aim to enhance the national annual rice production 

With good management, yield advantage of 1.0 – 1.5 t/ha can be obtained by cultivation of hybrids as compared to the high yielding varieties under the same set of growing conditions. 

So far, ninety seven hybrids have been released for commercial cultivation in the country. It’s predominantly cultivated in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and in 2017, the area under hybrid rice exceeded three m.ha.

Hybrid rice seed production is economically lucrative and this institute has perfected the technology over the years and many progressive seed growers recorded more than three tons of hybrid seed yield per hectare. 

Context 

Availability of quality seed at an affordable price is crucial for spread of hybrid rice technology in the country. Hybrid rice seed production technology is different and more complex than the inbred rice seed production. It has been observed that farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana sates have been taking up hybrid rice seed production on a large scale.Presently, about 85% of the hybrid seed requirement in the country is provided by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. It is mostly concentrated in Karimnagar and Warangal districts of Telangana and is also spreading to other districts such as Nizamabad, Khammam and Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh).The major players in the large scale hybrid rice seed production are private seed companies and farmers take up the activity with a kind of understanding with these companies. 

Empirical Evidences: 

Even though the total costs incurred on hybrid rice seed production were more, both the gross and net returns are higher. The gross return per hectare is expected to be around Rs. 2 lakhs and from this the farmer realizes a net profit of Rs. 0.75-1 Lakh per hectare. This technology also has potential to generate additional employment viz., around 60-80 persondays/ha, particularly for the landless rural women. Thus, during the current year 2017, the additional employment being generated, is estimated to be around 25,00,000 person-days. Expected additional employment generation during 2022 due to hybrid rice seed production will be around 30,00,000 person-days, thus providing ample employment opportunities in the rural areas. 

Practical Utility/ Scalability

There is going to be huge demand for hybrid rice seed in the coming years, as the area under hybrid rice is targeted to be increased from the present 3 m.ha. to around 8-10 m.ha in the coming 5-10 years, in the country and most of the seed production is going to happen in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana only. From the present level of 40000 tonnes of hybrid rice seed per year, it needs to be upscaled to around 80000-100000 tonnes in the coming 5-10 years, indicating a huge potential for hybrid rice seed production in the region. 

Technology / Concept developed by Dr. A S Hari Prasad and team