Knowledge and Adoption of Direct Seeded Rice Method Among Farmers in Haryana – A Sociological Analysis

Rice a staple food for more than half of the world population, is commonly grown by transplanting seedlings into puddled soil in Asia. Direct seeding is widely adopted and is spreading to other states of India. Haryana produces 3.5 million tonnes of rice and contributes approximately 3.7% to India’s total rice production with per hectare productivity of 3.03 tonnes. The study was conducted in Kaithal district of Haryana state. From this district, two blocks namely Kaithal and Pundri were selected randomly. On the whole a total of 200 rice growing farmers were selected, who were using direct seeded rice method (100) and conventional transplanted rice method (100). The findings regarding knowledge and adoption level of respondents about various aspects of direct seeded rice method were studied like recommended seed rate used, seed variety, preparation and sowing in evening time, insect-pest control, fungicides, method of sowing, depth of sowing, Seed treatment etc. It was found that main reason for adoption of DSR method was reduced work load like labour, water saving from first to subsequent irrigation and higher net returning. Constraints in adoption were mainly DSR method did not increase the yield at all, lack of knowledge, more complex system and technical assistance required, high prices of herbicides, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides etc. It was also suggested that training should be imparted for weed management, seed treatment, disease, variety etc. to farmers regarding DSR method at cluster level.

Subhash Chander*1 and Rashmi Tyagi2 Click here to download file

Research Article | Published online : 07-Jun-2021