Download (2461kB) - University of Greenwich

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Table 3. Farmers’ choice of technology according to monsoon rainfall.Strategy TPR (Swarna) SDR DSR-WS DSR-DSPlanned Normal practice Normal monsoon Normal monsoon Normal premonsoonAdaptive Too much water Late monsoon Heavy premonsoon Late monsoonfor DSRfarmers harvest these and Swarna simultaneously. One suggestion at the workshopwas to contract with landless labor groups that would harvest early-maturing plotswithin a specified period.PovertyResource-poor farmers had higher land, poorer soils, and more sharecropped fieldsthan others. This reinforced the need for household food security and they were lesslikely to grow improved varieties in the aman season, which suggests they would beparticularly reluctant to abandon Swarna. Despite this unfavorable resource base,however, poorer farmers had a higher level of cropping intensity in the rabi season,reflecting the need to squeeze whatever they could from limited land. This suggeststhat they would benefit from interventions to improve rabi cropping through low-inputcrops such as chickpea.Giving farmers choicesThe complexity of cropping patterns in the HBT limits the scope for prescriptive recommendationsthat give farmers simple rules for the use of new technology. Instead,farmers need a series of options from which they can choose and that will vary betweenseasons, between specific fields, and between farmers according to their resources.Consider the additional options that short-duration varieties and DSR now givefarmers for coping with erratic monsoons (Table 3): Farmers may use TPR as a planned strategy (their normal practice) but alsoas an adaptive strategy when heavy monsoon rains prevent DSR, whichrequires moist or saturated soils. Farmers may use SDR as a planned strategy instead of longer-duration Swarnain TPR but also as an adaptive strategy when the monsoon is late. SDR canbe transplanted when the monsoon arrives and still be harvested in time toallow a rabi crop. Farmers may use dry-seeded DSR as a planned strategy when the monsoonrain is normal but also as an adaptive strategy instead of TPR or SDR whenthe monsoon is late and delayed transplanting will prevent timely sowing ofrabi crops.Farm-level opportunities for increasing productivity and income in the High Barind Tract: a synthesis 17
Farmers may use wet-seeded DSR as a planned strategy when the monsoonrain is normal but as an adaptive strategy when heavy premonsoon rain preventsdry-seeded DSR, which requires only a moist soil and not a saturatedsoil.In practice, the full range of technology options is limited by toposequence, bysoil type, and by timely access to seed of a range of varieties. DSR is not suitable forlow-lying land or for sandy soils that do not hold water and have high weed growth.Similarly, chickpea is not usually grown on soils that dry out quickly.The advantages of particular strategies depend on rainfall probabilities. TPR in theHBT is delayed every other year by 2 weeks and every 10 years by 1 month (Saleh etal 2000). Hence, dry-seeded DSR is an attractive planned strategy in “normal” years.However, “excessive” premonsoon rain occurs once every three years (Brammer1997). This would rule out dry seeding and instead farmers would have to wet-seedor transplant. Similarly, a 2-week period without rain during the grain-filling stageoccurs once every two years (Saleh et al 2000). SDR or DSR is therefore an attractivestrategy in normal years to avoid late-season drought.Helping farmers make the right choices means providing them with the informationthey need to decide for themselves. Farmers need to be made aware of differentoptions and how these could work in different contexts. Thus, these new technologiesare knowledge-intensive and this has important implications for the type of informationthat farmers need and the role of the extension service. This issue is discussedin the next section.PromotionWhat has to happen for these technologies to be widely disseminated and then adopted?The workshop identified several factors, on both the supply and demand sides, thatmight either promote or prevent adoption of these new technologies (Table 4).DSR equipmentWithout lithaos and drum seeders, farmers will not be interested in DSR. At the moment,only farmers who have participated in field trials have access to this equipment.The key question, therefore, is how quickly the market will respond to meet demand.The equipment is relatively simple to make. Lithaos require only angle-iron andwelding and can be made by a local blacksmith. Drum seeders require plastic moldsand are manufactured in factories in Dhaka but not yet in Rajshahi. Costs are low.The retail price for a lithao in 2005 was US$15 and $75 for a drum seeder. The costof the investment can be reduced when the equipment is shared by farmer groups orby renting it out to others.Mechanical seed drillsPromotion of DSR could be facilitated by mechanical seeding. Seed drills drawn bypower tillers have recently been introduced for wheat. The same could be used for18 Orr et al
Page 2: Improving AgriculturalProductivity
Page 5: Bangladeshi experiences with a drum
Page 8: AcknowledgmentsIRRI is most gratefu
Page 12 and 13: The High Barind Tract: a challengin
Page 14 and 15: irrigation across the entire Barind
Page 16: Workshop synthesis
Page 19 and 20: and, with representatives from the
Page 21 and 22: Subsistence pressureLand pressure,
Page 23 and 24: HerbicidesEarlier efforts to introd
Page 25: volume). PVS is an effective way to
Page 29 and 30: process and distributing HNPV to fa
Page 31 and 32: an NGO, have successfully collabora
Page 34 and 35: Workshop discussionParticipants dis
Page 36 and 37: How can we identify a short-duratio
Page 38 and 39: to fixed tenancy. The implication i
Page 40: Opportunities for improving ricepro
Page 43 and 44: that the reliability and productivi
Page 45 and 46: Table 1. Planting dates, direct-see
Page 47 and 48: Table 2. (A) Mean effect of fertili
Page 49 and 50: Table 5. On-farm trials of a drum s
Page 51 and 52: Upper toposequenceYield (t ha -1 )7
Page 53 and 54: and perennial grasses (e.g., Ischae
Page 56 and 57: Direct-seeded rice in the HighBarin
Page 58: Table 1. Sample selection for costs
Page 61 and 62: Table 4. Variations in weed managem
Page 63 and 64: Table 7. Labor requirements (days h
Page 65 and 66: Table 10. Farmer perceptions of dis
Page 67 and 68: Farmers (no.)1412108DSRWet-seededDr
Page 69 and 70: able commercially. Other OFT farmer
Page 71: Box 1. Farmers’ comments on DSRPo
Page 74: NotesAuthors’ addresses: M.A. Jab
Page 78 and 79:
This paper explores the role of som
Page 80 and 81:
(Olsen method, atomic absorption),
Page 82 and 83:
Mean biomass (g m −2 )1,000.000Fi
Page 84 and 85:
Fig. 3. Log rank abundance of weed
Page 86 and 87:
attested by Fig. 2). Diversity in t
Page 88 and 89:
Bangladeshi experiences with a drum
Page 90 and 91:
Table 1. Grain yield and crop durat
Page 92 and 93:
Table 5. Grain yield and growth dur
Page 94 and 95:
ACEy = 0.0001x + 0.7089Yield (t ha
Page 96 and 97:
Table 11. Partial budget analysis f
Page 98:
ConclusionsDirect wet-seeded rice u
Page 101 and 102:
A 178% increase in rice production
Page 103 and 104:
Table 1. Components of yield gaps d
Page 105 and 106:
Table 3. Weed management in Comilla
Page 107 and 108:
Table 5. Weed management practices
Page 109 and 110:
Table 7. Significance (P H o ) of t
Page 111 and 112:
Since 2000, there has been an incre
Page 114 and 115:
Identifying varieties for the High
Page 116 and 117:
Table 1. Rice varieties bred by cli
Page 118 and 119:
Table 2. Grain yield advantage of J
Page 120 and 121:
Table 3. Plant height and crop dura
Page 122 and 123:
Table 6. Summary of adoption and sp
Page 124 and 125:
Freeman GH, Perkins J.M. 1971. Envi
Page 126:
Opportunities for improving rabi cr
Page 129 and 130:
Grain yield (t ha -1 )2.0npp1.5LSD
Page 131 and 132:
In each of the plots, numbers of He
Page 133 and 134:
Table 2. Effect of IPM components o
Page 135 and 136:
Unit plot size was 10 10 m and the
Page 137 and 138:
Yield (t ha -1 )5Straw4321GrainP (g
Page 139 and 140:
Nodulation score3AControl Soil Mo P
Page 141 and 142:
even at low levels of production. B
Page 144 and 145:
Integration of chickpea and other r
Page 146 and 147:
Grain yield (t ha -1 )3.02.51989-99
Page 148 and 149:
Improved Improved Rainfed rainfed C
Page 150 and 151:
Table 1. Preharvest and postharvest
Page 152 and 153:
Greater resistance to Helicoverpa p
Page 154 and 155:
wheat varieties). There is also sco
Page 156 and 157:
Developing seed systems fordissemin
Page 158 and 159:
This paper describes attempts to em
Page 160 and 161:
seed needed to attain the recommend
Page 162 and 163:
introduced to permit sale beyond th
Page 164:
pesticides, inoculation with benefi
Page 168 and 169:
for the rabi crop in 2001. Hence, b
Page 170:
where farmers decided not to relay-
Page 174 and 175:
Table 2. Mean dates of T. aman harv
Page 176 and 177:
Table 4. Subsistence pressure and r
Page 178 and 179:
Table 7. Subsistence pressure and r
Page 180 and 181:
cite the absence of rent as a facto
Page 182 and 183:
abi cropping in the HBT through ear
Page 184 and 185:
Formulation and dissemination ofimp
Page 186 and 187:
in India, for which shorter-duratio
Page 188 and 189:
Applied researchOFTsAdaptive resear
Page 190 and 191:
Table 1. Recommended package of pra
Page 192 and 193:
Table 2. Grain yields (kg ha -1 ) o
Page 194 and 195:
Table 4. Grain yields (t ha -1 ) of
Page 196 and 197:
Table 6. Mean grain yields (t ha -1
Page 198:
constraints present. This in itself
Page 202 and 203:
Extending rabi cropping in rice fal
Page 204 and 205:
Table 1. Estimates of rice area dur
Page 206 and 207:
Yield (kg ha -1 )1,2001,00080060040
Page 208 and 209:
Future disseminationThrough dialogu
Page 210 and 211:
Direct seeding of rice andopportuni
Page 212 and 213:
Table 1. Time of establishment and
Page 214 and 215:
Table 3. Weed density and biomass a
Page 216 and 217:
than in Central Java and many farme
Page 218 and 219:
Proportion abundance (log scale)Ran
Page 220 and 221:
CAN FIELD BE DRAINED?YesCAN FIELD B
Page 222 and 223:
Johnson DE, Mortimer AM. 2005. Issu
Page 224:
Zhao DL, Atlin GN, Bastiaans L, Spi
show all

Download (2461kB) - University of Greenwich

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?