Impact of non-lodging climate resilient rice variety TPS 5

Climate-resilient crops and varieties have been recommended as a way for farmers to cope with or adapt to climate change, but despite the apparent benefits, rate of adoption by smallholder farmers are highly variable. Kanyakumari being rice belt of the erstwhile Travancore State has certain indigenous varieties suitable for the high rainfall zone. The cultivation of indigenous red rice varieties like samba was the priority of the district. These tall and lodging varieties with low yield and lesser response to the inputs, was slowly replaced with high yielding new varieties ASD 16, TPS3 and TPS 5. These white bold variety with good cooking quality and high yielding ability has become the ruling variety replacing traditional samba in the district. A study on the spread effect of the climate resilient rice variety was taken up with specificity on finding the varietal acceptance and replacement pattern since the release of a new variety. The study focused on TPS 5 with respect to varietal acceptance and area expansion due to its stress tolerance in water logged conditions. This variety has replaced 69.55% of the total area cultivated. The major factor behind the sudden expansion of area was due to its non-lodging character and performance in SRI method which yielded on and average of 6 t/ ha and 5.4 t/ha in natural farming situations in the district. The crop survived the submerged condition with lesser damage in yield.