Chandigarh
15 September 2022
DIVYA AZAD
Rice is a major crop of Punjab state and millions of farmers are engaged in rice farming. Rice milling is also a major industrial activity in the state. With climate change and deficient monsoon rainfall, rice cultivation is challenged by depletion of groundwater, labor unavailability and higher cost for transplanting, increasing diesel/ fuel resulting in higher cost of cultivation and reduction in farmer income. Traditional transplanted/puddled rice farming is also creating higher emission of harmful greenhouse gases (GHG) like Methane, CO2 & Nitrous Oxide. Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) practice can address these problems while enhancing farmer income by replacing manual transplanting labour with mechanized drill sowing, water saving, fuel cost saving and reduction in GHG emissions. To promote DSR during Kharif 2022 Punjab Govt announced Rs 1500/acre incentive but still adoption of DSR in very limited because under DSR system farmers faces problem of seed flowability in seed drill that creates uneven seed spread and low germination, poor initial growth/vigour of crop due to nutrient deficiency & biotic stresses and biggest problem of weed control as under transplanted system standing water does not allow weed emergence.
The Theme of the conclave is centered around how to increase Direct seeded Rice acreages and make Direct seeded rice successful by using advanced technology of “FullPageTM–which provides the complete cropping solution for DSR .
Savannah Seeds Pvt. Ltd. in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) today organized a conclave on “Full PageTM Technology Enabled Direct Seeded Rice (DSR)- A Sustainable approach to Rice Cultivation”at J W Marriott, Chandigarh. This conclave was attended by Sh Inderbir Singh Nijjar-Hon’ble Minister for Soil & Water Conservation, Sh Sarvjit Singh-ACS-(Agriculture & farmers Welfare:Horticulture & soil & water conservation), Dr. Swapan Datta Ex-DDG Crops ICAR, Dr. Gurvinder Singh-Director Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Mr Mohinder Singh – Chief Conservator Soil , Dr. Rajvir Singh-Director Agriculture Technology Application Research Institute, Sh Ajai Rana-CEO/MD Savannah Seeds Pvt. Ltd., Sh. Amit Thapar-Chairman CII Punjab State Council , Sh. Shivendra Bajaj-Executive Director Federation of Seed Industry of India & other dignitaries of Agriculture Department Govt. of Punjab and from corporate houses such Savannah Seeds, Adama, Grow Indigo Pvt. Ltd etc.
Mr. Ajai Rana, CEO /MD Savannah Seeds Pvt. Ltd. said that inspite of serious efforts of the government both at field level as well as through subsidies; adoption of DSR system has been pretty low. To scale up adoption of DSR for sustainable rice farming, Savannah Seeds Pvt. Ltd. is closely working with rice farmers of Punjab and Haryana by organizing on field demonstrations of new technology, Full Page TM which has the potential of changing the face of Rice farming in India. This new technology offers 3 pronged benefits:
- Smart genetics (erect semi dwarf plant architecture) suitable for DSR
- SQUAD seed treatment for smooth seed flowability, micronutrients, fungicide and insecticide protecting against pest & diseases
3. Herbicide tolerance with FullPage trait providing broad spectrum weed control and crop safety.
Sh. Inderbir Singh Nijjar-Hon’ble Minister for Soil & Water Conservation stressed about benefits of DSR system to conserve ground water and soil structure. He encouraged PAU and Savannah Seeds scientists to develop more such environment friendly technology solutions for farmers.
Progressive Farmers Prabhjot Singh, Village Gajewas, Bhavanigarh Patiala and Manpreet Singh Village – Sangatpura , Ropar on whose field the demonstrations of FullPage Technology has been laid also told that from last 2 years they have been planting demonstration of FullPage technology offered by Savannah Seeds Pvt. Ltd. As per their experience FullPage technology offers uniform germination, better plant vigour & effective weed control and this technology is very beneficial for the farmers of Punjab & Haryana. Progressive farmers also urged fellow farmers to adopt DSR looking at depleting ground water resources & rising labour costs.
Mr. Manoj Mahuli (Director Sales & Marketing), Manoj Singh (Full Page Lead), Rajesh Kumar (Zonal Sales Manager), Sunny Sindhu (Zonal Sales Manager), Ajeet Singh (Business Manager) representing Savannah Seeds were also present in this event.
