PAU Urges Farmers to Adopt Multiple Cropping System with Pulses for Economic Sustainability

With the commencement of the Kharif season, rice experts of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) have called upon the farmers of Punjab to go in for potato/wheat-moong/mash-short duration rice varieties cropping system which is a win-win venture in terms of agricultural and economic sustainability.

Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, observed; “The cropping systems such as rice-wheat-summer moong, rice-potato-summer moong, DSR-wheat-summer moong, rice-gobhi sarson-summer moong hold good promise to maximize profitability. The cultivation of summer moong or mash will not only give additional income to the farmers but will also improve the soil health along with lowering of nitrogen reqmedium-sizeduirement of following rice crop.” “It is recommended that if crop of summer moong/mash is ploughed into the field after picking pods, then farmers can reduce urea dose of parmal rice by one-third, while there is no need to apply urea to basmati crop,” he advised.

Talking of the recommended moong varieties, Dr GS Mangat, Additional Director Research (Crop Improvement), told that PAU has recommended the summer moong variety SML 1827, which takes only 62 days to mature. “It is resistant to yellow mosaic disease and on average gives 5.0 quintal yield per acre. It has medium sized, shiny green grains with excellent cooking quality characteristics. It can be sown upto third week of April. Sowing can be done with seed drill/kera/pora/zero-till drill/happy seeder by using 12 kg seed per acre in rows at 22.5 cm spacing,” he advised. Furthermore, he suggested inoculating the seed with single packet of consortium biofertilizer (Rhizobium sp LSMR-1 and Rhizobacterium RB-3) before sowing. “Drill 11 kg urea along with 100 kg of superphosphate per acre at the time of sowing to summer moong sown after wheat. The summer crop sown after potato needs no fertilizer,” he added.

Besides, the University has recommended summer mash variety Mash 1137, which takes 74 days to mature, informed Dr Mangat. Elaborating, he said, “It is also resistant to yellow mosaic disease and on an average gives 4.5 quintal yield per acre. It has medium bold, blackish grains with good cooking quality characteristics. It can be sown upto first week of April. The sowing can be done with seed drill/kera/pora/zero-till drill/happy seeder by using 20 kg seed per acre in rows at 22.5 cm spacing.” Advising to inoculate the seed with recommended Rhizobium culture (LUR-6) before sowing, Dr Mangat suggested drilling 11 kg urea along with 60 kg of superphosphate per acre at the time of sowing to summer mash sown after toria/raya/potato. After the harvesting of moong/mash, the farmers can grow the short duration varieties of paddy/basmati varieties, he told. 

Dr Buta Singh Dhillon, Agronomist (rice), informed that during the last few  years, PAU has recommended short duration high yielding varieties (HYV) of  parmal and basmati rice, namely PR 126, Pusa Basmati 1509 and Pusa Basmati 1847, which mature in about 93, 95 and 99 days after transplanting, respectively. Due to shorter duration, these varieties not only save irrigation water but also enable the adoption multiple cropping systems, he added. Moreover, short duration varieties require less resources/inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, labour, etc., thereby, decreasing the cost of cultivation, he said.

Referring to the less water-guzzling, popular ‘PR’ varieties, Dr Dhillon observed, “PR 126 is an early maturing variety of paddy and takes 93 days to mature after transplanting. On an average, it gives 30.0 quintal of paddy yield per acre.” Further, he explained that PB 1509 is a basmati variety, maturing in 95 days after transplanting. It yields on an average 16.0 quintal of paddy per acre, he added. “PB 1847 is an improved version of PB 1509 and resistant to bacterial blight and moderately resistant to neck blast disease. It takes 99 days to mature after transplanting and on an average yields 19.0 quintal of paddy per acre,” he said. Dr Dhillon urged the farmers of the state to adopt multiple cropping system involving pulses. It will enhance their income, save natural resources and improve the soil health, he stressed.

The seeds of these varieties are available at various Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), Farm Advisory Service Centres (FASCs), Regional Research Stations (RRSs) and University Seed Farms (USFs) located in different districts of the state, he informed.