Comparative analysis of different Paddy establishment methods in Punjab

The manual transplanting method is the most prevalent method of paddy cultivation in Punjab, which is water, labour and energy intensive. Hence, it has threatened the sustainability of the paddy production system. Direct seeded rice (DSR) is an alternative technique among the farmers to get rid of these constraints. However, there are several constraints associated with shift from puddled transplanted rice to DSR. Therefore, a survey was conducted to understand the cultivation practices followed by the farmers, production constraints and costreturn analysis of different methods of paddy establishment in Barnala and Patiala districts of Punjab. As such, about 7 per cent, 74 per cent, 6 per cent and 14 per cent of surveyed farmers were involved in practicing of dry DSR, manual transplanted rice, mechanical transplanted rice and tar-wattar DSR, respectively. Analysis revealed that with non-significant yield differences, reduction in cost of cultivation by 29.5 per cent, 29 per cent and 14.4 per cent was reported with the adoption of dry DSR, tar-wattar DSR and mechanical transplantation, respectively over manual transplantation. Also, about 20 and 40 per cent of irrigation water was saved with dry DSR and tar-wattar DSR respectively, over the manual transplanted rice.