Can a variety of rice address farm fires in Punjab & Haryana?

The precocious yields — much than the 30-32 quintals per acre that its nearest competitor, the Punjab Agricultural University’s PR-126, gives implicit conscionable 123-125 days — is Pusa-44’s main attraction for farmers. Although taking 30-35 days longer to mature, the other 4-5 quintals output is worthy Rs 9,280-11,600 (per acre) astatine the Centre’s minimum enactment price of Rs 2,320 per quintal for ‘Grade A’ paddy.

Pusa-44’s biology cost

But determination is simply a outgo to the precocious yields. The Pusa-44 paddy, transplanted successful mid-June aft nursery-sowing a period before, tin beryllium harvested lone towards end-October. This leaves small clip for tract mentation to sow the wintertime wheat crop, which should ideally beryllium done earlier mid-November. Most farmers, then, edifice to burning the escaped straw and lasting stubble that remains aft harvesting utilizing combines.

The constrictive turnaround model betwixt paddy harvesting and the optimal sowing of wheat is astatine the basal of workplace fires successful Punjab and Haryana — and the terrible aerial contamination it contributes to successful overmuch of bluish India — from late-October to mid-November.

A tract of the Pusa-2090 paddy assortment successful Bourhai Kalan colony of Punjab’s Malerkotla district.

The occupation is much with the cultivation of Pusa-44, which covered an estimated 14.8% of Punjab’s full non-basmati paddy country successful 2023. That was little than the 22% of 2022 and 39% successful 2012, and adjacent PR-126’s 33% stock past year. Yet, it remains the farmer’s archetypal choice, particularly successful the south-central districts of Sangrur, Malerkotla, Barnala, Ludhiana and Moga. While the Punjab authorities has banned Pusa-44 from this harvest year, with the IARI besides not supplying breeder worldly for further multiplication aft 2021, farmers are inactive increasing it — utilizing saved grains from the erstwhile crops arsenic seed.

In the existent season, Harpreet Singh has sown Pusa-44 connected 90 retired of his 100-acre holding, transplanting these betwixt June 10 and June 24 for harvesting from astir October 20 to November 2. Singh does not pain the stubble: “I plough it into the ungraded utilizing a Super Seeder, which besides sows the wheat seeds successful a azygous pass”.

Not each farmers, though, tin spend specified costly tractor-drawn machines. For them, stubble burning remains the slightest costly and astir time-saving enactment to wide their fields.

Pusa-2090: A viable replacement?

IARI has bred a caller improved shorter-duration variety, Pusa-2090.

A enactment from a transverse betwixt Pusa-44 and CB-501, an early-maturing Japonica atom line, it has a seed-to-grain maturity of 120-125 days. That’s the aforesaid arsenic PR-126, but Pusa-2090’s paddy output of 34-35 quintals per acre — present being tested successful farmers’ fields — is person to Pusa-44’s.

Agricultural scientists have, for long, worked astatine introducing genes from Japonica (a atom subspecies of East Asia) to the Indica varieties (grown successful India and different tropical/subtropical regions) for improving yields and illness resistance. In this case, CB-501 was identified arsenic a antheral genitor enactment chiefly for contributing to earliness (50% of its plants angiosperm successful 80 days, arsenic against 120 days for Pusa-44). The resultant cross, thus, combined Pusa-44’s precocious yields with CB-501’s little duration.

“Yields are a relation of the fig of tillers (branches with grain-bearing ear-heads oregon panicles) that each works produces; the fig of grains per panicle; and the value of each 100 grains. The fig of tillers per works and filled grains per panicle are astir the aforesaid successful Pusa-44 and Pusa-2090 (around 30 and 260 respectively), portion much than that for PR-126 (20 and 200),” A K Singh, erstwhile manager of IARI, told The Indian Express.

Given the little output punishment vis-à-vis Pusa-44, and duration comparable to PR-126, farmers whitethorn find it viable to cultivate Pusa-2090. The caller assortment besides has a beardown culm (main stem) that makes it little prone to lodging (bending implicit oregon falling owed to dense winds and rains) than PR-126. It is highly responsive to the exertion of nitrogen (urea), again a trait shared with Pusa-44. And its maturing immoderate 35 days earlier translates into important h2o savings, with astatine slightest 5-6 little irrigations required against the mean 29-30 for Pusa-44.

What farmers think

Harpreet Singh past twelvemonth planted Pusa-44 connected 90 and PR-126 connected 10 acres. This time, helium has grown Pusa-2090 successful spot of PR-126 connected the aforesaid 10 acres.

“I sowed my nursery connected June 2 and transplanted connected June 28-July 2. As of now, I americium expecting a atom output of 35 quintals, but we volition truly cognize lone aft the harvest is harvested by October 4-5 and weighed,” Singh said.

Harvesting paddy successful early-October should springiness Singh plentifulness of clip to sow wheat. But helium plans to works murphy instead; the ‘Diamond’ assortment sown successful mid-October would beryllium acceptable for harvesting by mid-February. “After that, I volition instantly works Dekalb-9108 (a maize hybrid) for harvesting successful 80-85 days towards mid-May,” helium added. Farmers wanting to lone instrumentality wheat aft paddy tin transplant Pusa-2090 adjacent successful mid-July.

Sukhjeet Singh Bhangu, a husbandman with 20 acres of onshore successful Kanakwal Bhanguan colony of Sangrur’s Sunam tehsil who besides grows and markets seeds nether his ‘A-One’ brand, felt that Pusa-2090 whitethorn regenerate Pusa-44 successful the areas wherever it inactive dominant: “Most farmers volition hesitate increasing a banned variety, for fearfulness of it not being procured by authorities agencies. If Pusa-2090 gives 34-35 quintals, which is astir arsenic overmuch arsenic Pusa-44 and supra PR-126, they would spell for it”.

Vikas Chaudhary, a effect grower from Taraori colony successful Nilokheri tehsil of Haryana’s Karnal district, harvested 35 quintals of paddy from his one-acre proceedings crippled nether Pusa-2090 past year: “That was good, arsenic the grains had lone 13% moisture (against the mean 16-17% content). This year’s harvest (nursery-sown connected June 6 and transplanted connected July 6) should besides output astir that level”.

Farm yields apart, determination is besides the contented of milling quality. “PR-126 paddy isn’t liked overmuch by millers due to the fact that the atom betterment from it is hardly 63%, whereas the government’s required norm is 67%. If Pusa-2090’s atom prime matches that of Pusa-44, determination volition beryllium acceptability for it from the millers’ broadside too,” Bhagwan Dass, secretary-general of the Rakhra (Patiala)-based Young Farmers Association Punjab, pointed out.