Agriculture: System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Method

• Articles

It is a method of rice cultivation used by 40 drought prone countries including India. In this method , 12 day old seedlings are transplanted at a precise spacing of 2S sq. cm. Each plant is grown to its full potential, thus sends out about 60 - 150 shoots. While in the traditional method of paddy cultivation, seedlings are grown up to a month in the nursery and no space between the plant clumps is allowed.

Benefits:

1. In this method, providing gap between the plant clumps helps in the maximisation of the grain bearing capacity of the plant because healthier plants develop more grain bearing stems, which is not possible in the traditional method.
2. In this method ,lesser amount of water is required as compared to the traditional method because in this method only the roots are kept moist.
3. Also, it takes lesser amount of fertiliser because in this method, fertiliser is applied only to the roots, ,while in the traditional method, fertiliser is spread to the whole cultivated area. Thus is more economical than the traditional method.

Indian context:

As per a report from the Directorate of Rice Development, at all India level ,246 districts have adopted this method. It has been included in National food Security Mission in 2009.

Importance from examination point of view:

1. 2 Marker - What is SRI technology?
2. Benefits, compare with traditional method.
3. Importance for a country like India whose agriculture depends mainly upon the nature of monsoon.

© www.vvrias.com