New farm technologies to raise wheat productivity

By Gargi Parsai

KARNAL, MARCH 9 To meet the challenges of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and give farmers a chance to compete in the world market, the Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR) here has developed futuristic farm technologies to cut input costs and enhance wheat productivity.

Working on the premise that crucial farm inputs such as water will be priced one day and fertilizer will become dearer, the DWR scientists have introduced zero-tillage machines and furrow irrigated raised bed (FIRB) planting for farmers to reap rich harvest.

``Using zero tillage machine allows farmers to plant wheat on the day rice is harvested without going in for traditional ploughing. This saves time on preparation of field, advances the sowing by 8 to 10 days and brings a saving of about Rs. 1700 a hectare on account of diesel, water and labour,'' the Project Director of DWR, Dr. S. Nagarajan told a visiting team of presspersons.

Most importantly, the zero-till drill machine prevents delay in sowing, which sometimes lingers till December instead of October- November. The raised bed sowing done by the DWR planter machine, raises the bed on which wheat is planted. The technique allows for quick cultivation of green manure or pulses in the furrows. Scientists even propagate sowing of vegetables as diversification. The incidence of phalaris minor, the grassy weed, is less as.

The original New Zealand zero-till machine was first provided by CYMMYT, Mexico. It was ``tropicalised'' by the Pant Nagar University as part of the National Agriculture Research Project. Dr. Nagarajan said Haryana Agriculture University was the first to take the machine to farmers and the Haryana farmers were quick to absorb the technique. As against this, the Punjab farmers have been slow in picking up the technology, possibly because the extension service is poor in the State and inputs are not yet scarce.

In Haryana, out of a total of 2.2 million hectares of land under rabi, 40,000 hectares is under zero tillage. But the technology appears all set to take off in a big way.

The cost of a zero-till drill and FIRB is about Rs. 14,000 each and they can be attached to a normal 35 horsepower tractor. Mr. Hira Singh, a progressive farmer from Sonkara village who used zero-till technology in four acres demo farm out of 10 acres said it had indeed brought about 40 per cent saving in water and diesel and the crop was more robust.

However, small farmers will have to hire the zero-till and FIRB machines at a cost of about Rs. 400 an hour, besides the cost of the tractor. But one run was enough to sow the field, said Principle Scientist, Dr D.S. Chauhan. He said the machine would be modified slightly by introducing choppers at the wheels which can slice through the paddy stalks as the field is sown.

At present, most farmers in North India use harvester combines and burn out the remnant paddy stalks before preparing the field for wheat which poses environmental hazards and delays sowing, affecting the quality of the produce.

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