Production security through community rice nursery model in agro-climatic regions of Bihar

Abstract

A community rice nursery is a location specific communal innovation where planting materials are raised, propagated, multiplied, etc. in order to be transplanted in beds or in the puddle field that have been prepared. It can be a solution to address the issue faced by farmers in lowland/medium land/ upland areas during seasons of little rainfall. The method entails planting a community nursery
in the hamlet that is spaced out and given guaranteed watering every two weeks in a particular village. With the long duration variety (>150 days), the first nursery is taken up by 10th June as a backup plan in case the monsoon is delayed by two weeks. This allows for the transplantation of 3–4 weeks old seedlings by the first two weeks of July. In the event, monsoon is delayed four weeks longer than expected, the second nursery will be stocked with seedlings that are three to four weeks old, ready for transplantation in the third or fourth week of July, using medium duration type that takes 130–135 days to complete the crop duration. The third nursery is prepared by the middle of July with short duration variety (<110 days) so that transplanting seedlings of 3–4 weeks old can begin in the first/second weeks of August in the event that there is still no rain by the middle of the month.