Popularization of Direct Seeded Rice technique in North West Alluvial Plain Zone of West Champaran District, Bihar under Climate Resilient Program

Abstract

Agriculture is the main stay of our rural economy and the substance of life of the people. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important cereal crop in the world and a staple food of the global population. Rice is indeed one of the oldest types of cereal recorded in the history of mankind. Being the major source of food after wheat, it meets 43 percent of the calorie requirement of more than 70 percent of the Indian population. The cultivation of rice in intensive subsistence agriculture becomes synonymous with agriculture. India is the second largest producer of rice in the world being superseded only by China in the gross annual output. Rice covers about 69 percent of the cultivated area and is the major crop covering about 63 percent of the total area under food grains. It is one of the most important food crops of India in term of area, production, and preferred food item throughout the country. India is the second largest producer and consumer of rice in the world and also fulfills food demand for more than two third of the Indian population. In order to meet the domestic demand of the increasing population, India produces 122.27 million tons of rice from an area of 45.07 million hectares with productivity of 2713 kg/ha during 2020-21 (Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, 2021). It is also one of the most important food crops of Bihar and is mostly grown in North West Alluvial Plain Zone regions in rice-wheat cropping system. In Bihar, it occupied 3.02 million ha with a production of 6.88 million t and average productivity of 2276 kg ha-1 (Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, 2021). The productivity of crops in the state is far below the national average in state rice is grown in versatile adaptation from precarious moisture as rain-fed upland to deep water areas having 3-4 meter water as a deep water crop with many intermediate situations in between.