Direct Seeded Rice (Agriculture)
Direct Seeded Rice (Agriculture)
Why In News:
Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) is gaining wider adoption among paddy farmers this kharif season as delayed monsoon onset and El Nino-linked rainfall uncertainty push cultivators to rethink decades-old transplanting practices.
Source: The Indian Express, Page 1, 6 July 2026 - ‘Direct seeded rice gains traction among farmers amid El Nino shadow on monsoon’
What is Direct Seeded Rice?
Method: DSR is a rice establishment method where seeds are sown directly into the main field, dry or pre-germinated, eliminating nursery-raising and manual transplanting.
Water use: It removes the need for continuous standing water and puddling associated with conventional transplanted rice, and typically matures eight to ten days earlier since it avoids transplanting shock.
Two variants:Dry-DSR, where seeds are drilled into unsaturated soil ahead of the monsoon, and wet-DSR, where pre-germinated seeds are broadcast or drilled into puddled soil.
Challenges to Wider Adoption
Yield variability: DSR can raise yields in some states while reduce yields in some other states.
Weed pressure: DSR faces higher weed pressure than transplanted rice, since standing water in conventional systems naturally suppresses weeds.
Varietal research: Scientists under the All India Coordinated Research Project on Rice (AICRIP) have identified new rice varieties bred specifically for DSR conditions, with one variety, DRR Dhan 92, yielding about 18 percent more than a popular check variety under direct-seeded conditions while also combining stress tolerance and pest resistance traits.
Government Support for DSR Adoption
Mechanisation push: State agriculture departments are promoting DSR through subsidised seed drills and access to machinery via custom hiring centres, reducing the upfront cost barrier for smallholder farmers switching from transplanting to direct seeding.
Seed treatment mandates: Several states have made pre-sowing seed treatment mandatory under DSR advisories, along with contingency guidance to use up to 10 percent more seed for resowing if germination fails by a specified date.
Complementary crop planning: Contingency plans in states such as Chhattisgarh also promote a shift toward short and medium-duration crop varieties, along with staggered sowing advice for pulses and oilseeds, to spread climate risk across the kharif season rather than relying solely on rice.
Convergence with climate goals: DSR’s lower water and methane footprint aligns with India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, positioning sustainable rice cultivation practices as part of the country’s broader climate mitigation strategy in agriculture.