The slightly modified System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method has gained acceptance and yielding results in paddy cultivation in Krishna district. Over 31,000 hectares of land was brought under the SRI method in the present kharif season. Most of the area brought under the SRI method is sandy soil by nature in both delta and upland mandals.
Introduced in the early 2000s in Krishna district, the farmers have found the SRI method suitable to get high yield than traditional farming method, apart from minimising the input cost. “The farmers are after the SRI method given lack of availability of labour on time and yield per acre. The requirement of less water is said to be one of the reasons for the success of the method in Krishna district,” Assistant Director (Agriculture Training) Mani Neelam said. According to statistics of the Agriculture Department, the yield per acre has been recorded 32-34 bags (each 75kg) in the SRI method as against 31 bags in the traditional method in the district.
The farmers in the eastern Krishna district — Machilipatnam, Pedana, Gudlavalleru, Pedaparupudi, Kalidindi, Kruthivennu, Bantumilli areas — have mostly shifted from the traditional method to slightly modified SRI method. In SRI method, the farmers are preferring mechanised planting, sowing the seed with seed drilling, line sowing and direct sowing to avoid growing paddy nursery. “The crop duration is arguably 10-15 days less in the SRI method, in which the number of grains per plant is high,” Mr. Neelam told The Hindu .
Subsidies
The Agriculture Department will sanction Cono weeder machine on subsidy in addition to providing training for the farmers on the SRI method. In Krishna district, paddy was sown in above 2.31 lakh hectares. The Agriculture Extension Officers are engaged in promoting the SRI method in the areas where availability of water is less in the district.
