Vol. 12, Issue 3 (2023)

Author(s):
Barikara Umesh, JB Kambale, Jaiprakash Narayan RP and Shilpa VC

Abstract:
Adoption of precise irrigation water application methods in paddy cultivation could increase the water productivity by minimizing the seepage and percolation water losses. A field demonstration were conducted at five different locations under five selected farmers filed to assess Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) and Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) method on water saving, water productivity and yield under paddy crop during kharif season of 2020 and 2021 under Upper Krishna Project command area (Karnataka) against farmers practices such as Traditional Transplanted Rice (TTR) and Submerged Irrigation (SI). The average paddy yield under DSR+AWD was 6503.5 (kg ha^-1) which is 13.61% higher than TTR+SI of 5724.0 (kg ha^-1) among selected farmers field. The lowest average quantity of water applied was in DSR+AWD (942.6 mm) which is 27.66% lesser than TTR+SI method (1203.4 mm). Significant difference was observed in water productivity during both the season in all the five location. The highest pooled water productivity of two seasons was in DSR+AWD (6.9 kg ha^-1 mm^-1) which is 46.8% higher than the TTR+SI (4.7 kg ha^-1 mm^-1). Therefore, paddy growing farmers should adopt AWD under DSR method instead of continuous submergence to minimize water losses and solve water scarcity problems in UKP command area. The study has demonstrated that integrated extension approach in technology dissemination and scaling-out through stakeholder integration is crucial. However, a mission mode framework is needed for technology up scaling at system level.