A field survey to identify the problems in adaptability of Direct Seeded Rice

During Kharif (July –October) 2015 a field survey study was conducted to identify the problems in adaptability of direct seeded rice (DSR) from three districts falling in Adaptive Research zone Gujranwala, Pakistan. Sixty farmers who had cultivated both transplanted rice and DSR were selected by convenience sampling method due to time and cost constraint and interviewed for primary data collection. The results revealed that DSR practice was adopted on 21.1% of the rice area on surveyed farms. Additional grain yield (11%) was estimated for traditional transplanted crop than DSR. Major problems raised by the farmers regarding DSR practice were more weed infestation, more disease/pest attack, less yield, more fertilizer requirement and more lodging factor. Total economic cost of production and net income for transplanted rice were respectively 11.3% and 9% higher than DSR. However Benefit cost ratio difference was found non-significant between both sowing methods. Expense on land preparation, labor charges for nursery management and transplanting, and irrigation expense for continuous flooding were the factors for higher cost of transplanted rice production. Therefore it was concluded that both sowing methods might be alternative to each other keeping in view the availability of labor, water and soil type.