Rainfed rice - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

Participatory Technology Development in Rainfed Rice-based Farming Systems of Eastern India
CASE STUDY
Intercropping research
Intercropping technology of pigeonpea with rice was found to be productively promising for
uplands in the on-station research at Hazaribagh. It provided 0.4 t/ha of pigeonpea grain yield
and increased cropping intensity by 36%. The 0.6 t/ha decrease in rice yield was more than
compensated by the high-value pigeonpea, and this technology provided additional income of
$70.00/ha.
It was considered best suited for drought-prone conditions with a built-in compensation provision
for rice crop failures by the high-value pulse. Therefore, several on-farm trials were conducted to
introduce this technology in Nagwan village covering 5 ha in different parcels. The trial crop
performed at par with the on-station results. Impressed with its performance, the farmers tried
for a year but abandoned the practice the following year.
Underlying reasons given by the farmers were that there was a further decrease in rice yield
than the pigeonpea could compensate for. They did not consider the pigeonpea yield as a
compensation for the loss in rice yield, as rice was socially more valued than pigeonpea.
Moreover, the pigeonpea remained in the field longer after the rice harvest and was destroyed
by grazing animals. Conventionally, the post-rice fields were meant for grazing throughout the
Hazaribagh uplands.
However, farmers suggested that should they be provided with a short-duration pigeonpea
variety maturing together with rice, they would still try out the intercropping technology with
wider row spacing. If short-duration varieties of pigeonpea are unavailable, some of them
suggested an alternative strategy to plant pigeonpea earlier than rice to match up their maturity.
They also suggested that if they were to plant rice + pigeonpea in a contiguous area it would
protect the crop from grazing animals.
Subsequent research on rice + pigeonpea intercrop indicated increased blast incidence in rice
brought about by increased humidity due to pigeonpea stands. The blast disease incidence was
higher in the village than at the station. Failure in specifying to farmers the rice variety used in
the experiment and in thoroughly checking the associated disease incidence partly contributed
to this.
The farmers' suggestion of using wider row spacing seems quite logical as it would decrease the
buildup of humidity. It appeared that farmers' reluctance to adopt the new technology was their
concern about the additional cash and labour requirement for rice blast control.
Prepared by:
A. Kumar, J. Gonsalves and V. P. Singh
281