Direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique

Direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Agriculture; Irrigation technique 

In News:  

• Punjab farmers planted paddy using the direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique in the kharif season, rather than traditional transplanting. 

Benefits of direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique 

• Handling crop residue after harvest is easy. 
• Large scale use of DSR to plant paddy could solve the staggering problem of stubble burning. 
• Decreases air pollution. 
• Direct seeding (both wet and dry) avoids nursery raising, seedling uprooting, and transplanting, and thus reduces the labor requirement. 
• Direct seeded plants tend to have better root growth and are therefore more prepared for climatic extremes 
• More plants may germinate in the years following sowing