SYSTEM OF WHEAT INTENSIFICATION: A RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND AGRO-ECOLOGICAL METHOD OF WHEAT CULTIVATION

Ram B. KhadkaScientist

Regional Agricultural Research Station,

Khajura, Banke, Nepal

WHAT IS SWI ?New concept and practice of

wheat cultivation manipulating the soil environment favorably for better root and shoot growth using principles of SRI

Wide spacing of plants for better light and air utilization

Increased use of compost and organic matter for the soil

Quality seed to be selected and treated using appropriate biotic and abiotic agents

Better soil aeration by use of mechanical weeder.

THE SYSTEM OF RICE INTENSIFICATION (SRI) SRI is a “set of insights and practices that

change the management of plants, soil, water and nutrients used in growing irrigated rice.” SRI methods promote the growth of more productive and robust plants.

Put simply; SRI is a package of practices developed to improve the productivity of rice, especially for smallholders.

SRI involves intermittent wetting and drying of paddies as well as specific soil and agronomic management practices.

It is civil society innovation….. Increases rice yield per drop of water, per kg of

seed and fertilizers More tolerable of water stress, drought, flooding,

and lodging, due to better roots, stronger tillers Very suitable for organic production Resource-conserving technology

Source: Dash & Pal, 2011

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SWI

Principle of root development: proper nourishment and providing sufficient space around the plant

Principle of intensive care: careful management of the soil

Outputs / Results Higher tillering Increased number of effective

tillers / hill Enhanced panicle length & bolder

grains Enhanced yield

METHODOLOGY

Improved seed Seed treatment Land preparation

and application of organic manure

Seed rate Line sowing Gap filling Irrigation Weeding

WEEDING

SEED TREATMENT: Take 10 liters of hot water (60 degrees

Celsius) in an earthen pot.

Dip 5 kg of improved graded seeds in it.

Remove the seeds which float on the top of water.

Mix 2 kg of well-decomposed compost, 3 liters cow urine, and 2 kg of jaggery.

After mixing it properly, keep the mixed material as such for 6-8 hours.

After this, filter it so that solid materials along with seeds and liquids get separated.

After that, mix 10 gm of fungicide properly and keep in shade for 10-12 hrs.

Then wheat gets germinated. The germinated seeds are used for sowing in the tilled field.

Cow urine, well-decomposed compost and jaggery in separate vessels

SWI EXPERIENCE IN NEPALParticipatory Action Research (PAR) by Mercy

Corps Location: Dadeldhura, Doti and Baitadi. Variety: WK-1204

Seed treatment: Soaking in lukewarm water overnight followed by mixing with cow urine, jaggery and well-decomposed compost. Then the seeds were left to dry under shade for 4 hours.

T1: seed priming + line sowing), T2 : seed priming + broadcast method, T3: without priming + local practice of

sowing, and T4: control (local variety + local practices).

Area : 150 m2 was allocated for each trial providing 50 m2 for each plot/treatment.

Fertilizer application: @15 Mt/Ha

Seed rate: @30 Kg/Ha for T1, 80 Kg/Ha for T2 and T3, and 120 Kg/ha for T4.

Courtesy : Raut (2011). Mercycorps, Dadeldhura

RESULTS

Treatments Plant height (cm)

# of tillers per

plant

Length of

spikes (cm)

# of grains/spike

1000 grain

weight (gm)

Grain yield (kg ha-1)

T1(seed priming + line sowing)

88.5 14.35 9.21 74.95 62 6,516

T2 (seed priming + broadcast method)

88.1 11.25 8.91 69.6 58 4,524.7

T3 (without priming + local practice of sowing)

79.8 3.05 6.90 53.2 52 3,738

T4 (local variety + local practices)

89.2 2.01 5.80 44.3 48 3,405.5

Source : Raut (2011). Mercycorps, Dadeldhura

FARMERS FIELD SCHOOL IN KAILALI Location: Ramsikharjhala, Lalbojhi and Fulbari. Number of farmers: 25 farmers per FFS Area: 300 m2 for SWI and 300 m2 for conventional Seed Treatment: Seeds were selected by mild hot

water for 10 minutes. All floating seeds were removed and only those that sank were used for sowing. Seed were allowed to germinate for 12 hours.

Sowing: 20×20 spacing at a depth of 3-4 cm . Two germinated seed were placed at each location by hand dibbling.

Fertilizer application: Recommended fertilizer was 100:50:50 Kg NPK/ha @ 10 Mt/ha

Gap filling:. After 10 days of sowing, gap filling was done by dibbling the seed. First (light) irrigation was provided 20 days after sowing (DAS)

Weeding: @ 25 DAS, 45 DAS and 65 DAS weeding were done with the help of a cono weeder.

Irrigation: 20, 40, 60 100 DAS

Parameters (average of 10 plants)

Fulbari Lalbojhi Ramsikharjhala

Conv. SWI Conv. SWI Conv. SWI

Tiller number 5

25(18-36) 4

34(22-54) 3

25(19-42)

Number of spike per hill 5 22.5 4 33 2.4 23.5

Number of grains per spike 22.5 45.4 50.1 72.4 60 80

Number of spike per m2 310 400 414 446 210 256

Spike length (cm) 9 16 9.3 12.3 13 18 TGW (gm) 50 75 40 45 45 50

Productivity (Mt/ha) 4 8 5.8 7.95 4.8 6.95Difference in productivity

100% 37% 44%

Results

DIFFERENCE IN YIELD COMPONENT IN SWI &CONVENTIONAL

Parameters SWI Conventional

Seed requirement

25-30 kg/ha 100-120 Kg/ha

Seed treatment

Required Not necessary

Methods of sowing

Dibbling in line

Broadcasting

Spacing 20 x20 cm No proper spacing

Weeding 2-3 weedings Not done

Length of panicle (cm)

18 12

No. of grains per panicle

60-75 40-50

No. of panicles per hill

53-40 2-5

TGW (gm) 70-75 45-50

Stem, roots & leaves

Thick stem, long root, wide and green flag leaves

Thin stem, short and superficial roots, and narrow and pale green flag leaves

DIFFERENT BETWEEN SWI & TRADITIONAL METHODS

FARMER FIELD SCHOOL (FSS) IN SINDHULI

Location: Bhimasthan–3, Kadame, 397 masl in altitude

Duration: December 2011 to 2012 Soil type: Sandy loam soil, (pH 5.1);

0.061% total N; medium P2O5; 79.23 kg ha-1 K2O; and 1.22 % organic matter

Plot size: 4×1 m. Fertilizer dose: 10 ton/ha of NPK

(100:50:25) Variety: Bhirkuti (germinated seed) Spacing: 20x20 cm. Irrigation was provided during CRI and

tillering stage. Weeding was done manually.

Courtesy : Adhikari, 2012. DADO, Sindhuli

RESULTSMethods of cultivation

Production(kg)

Production(mt / ha)

Broadcast 1.5 3.7

Line-sown 2.0 5.0

SWI practices

2.6 6.5

Courtesy : Adhikari, 2012. DADO, Sindhuli

COMPARATIVE EXPERIENCE IN SWIState/

province/district

No. of farmers

Conventional yield

(t/ha)

SWI ave. yield (t/ha)

SWI increase

(%)

Remarks

India Uttara-khand state

151 Irrigated

2.77 5.04 82 Evaluation done by People's Science Institute in 2008-09 season

317Unirrig.

1.74 3.32 91

India Bihar state

415 (2008-09)

1.6 3.6 125 Initial on-farm trials done in Gaya district by NGO PRADAN; Bihar state govt. started supporting SWI in 2010; SWI methods used on 183,063 ha in 2011-12, average yield of 5.1 t/ha

15,808(2009-10)

1.8 4.6 150

Mali Timbuktu region

21 (2010-11)

1.96 5.45 178 On-farm trials in response to initiatives of Africare

142(2011-12)

0.94 3.2 240 Drought year; results from 13 villages

Nepal Kailali district

(2010-11)3.4

Broadcasting

6.5Line sowing

90 Farmer field school trials at 4 sites; all with improved variety

NepalSindhuli district

(2011-12)3.7

Broadcasting

6.5Transplantin

g

74 FFS trials, all with improved variety; line sowing gave yield of 5.0 t/ha

Range and average

0.94-3.7 3.2-6.5 130 Source : Styger et. al. 2013 (ms. in draft)

BED PLANTING SYSTEMS IN WHEAT

Photo courtesy : Kamboj et al. 2008

ADVANTAGES OF BED PLANTING SYSTEM

Irrigation is improved, is simpler, and more efficient (use 30% less water than flat bed methods and improve crop yields by more than 20%)

Saves 30% to 50% of wheat seed compared to flat planting

Better upland crop production is possible in the wet monsoon because of better drainage.

Fertilizer efficiency can be increased because of better placement, including top dress applications

Better tillering, increased panicle/ear length, and bolder grains, more resistant to lodging.

Weeds management is easier Opportunities for intericropping

Photo courtesy : Kamboj et al. 2008

1. On 5 ropani of land, SWI can increase yield as much as 100%, which can enable attaining food security for more than 6 months for a 6- member household, assuming their consumption rate is 4 kg/day.

2. Tediousness of line sowing can be minimized by introducing simple, manually-operated, women-friendly seed-drill machines.

3. SWI maximizes the labor factor productivity when utilized in the marginal lands.

4. Seed treatment with mixture of jaggery, cow urine and vermi-compost increases the soil fertility by the action of non-symbiotic biological nitrogen-fixing agents in soils.

CONCLUSIONS

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