Enhancing farmers’ income: potential of stress tolerant rice varieties

Rice, a staple food crop of India, has significant potential to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of ‘No Poverty’ and ‘Zero Hunger’. Adoption of varieties particularly resistant to climate stress is amongst the most cited measures for on-farm livelihood adaptation strategies. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to analyse farm-level economic impact of selected biotic and abiotic stress tolerant rice varieties, viz., Improved Samba Mahsuri (bacterial leaf blight resistant), and DRR Dhan 44 (drought). Nalgonda and Mahboobnagar districts of Telangana and Karur district of Tamil Nadu were selected for the study, as these stress tolerant varieties are being popularized in these districts. Results from farm-level survey in 2016 show that the farmers could avert 12% yield loss due to adoption of Improved Samba Mahsuri. The benefit-cost ratio (BCR) for Improved Samba Mahsuri was higher in comparison to Samba Mahsuri. The BCR of DRR Dhan 44 was 1.5, whereas for Samba Mahsuri, it was 1.3, which implies that the yield reduction due to drought could be averted and net returns were higher with the adoption of DRR Dhan 44. In order to encourage widespread adoption of stress tolerant rice varieties, dissemination activities must be accelerated. This requires proper targeting of beneficiaries in stress affected areas, complemented by training of farmers in sustainable agricultural practices.