Guwahati: In a bid to resist monsoon fury in Assam the number of farmer groups producing flood-tolerant and high-yielding varities of seeds have doubled from 16 in 2022-23 to 33 in 2023-24. In this way, the state also aims to become self-sufficient in paddy seed With technical support from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the farmer groups have cultivated breeder and foundation seeds of various flood-tolerant rice varieties and marketed around 533.7 tonnes of paddy seeds in 2023-24,” a state official said on Wednesday.
The state faces a challenge of substantial demand for paddy seeds, estimated at approximately 22,800 tonnes, to replace 30 per cent of the 1.9 million hectares of Sali paddy area in Assam. the state has been consistently grappling with recurrent floods, impacting an estimated 1 million hectares of Sali paddy area every year, of which 0.5 million hectares are chronically flood-prone areas. <br>“Involvement of farmer groups in the seed value chain is steadily increasing in Assam. IRRI is also creating the linkage with farmer groups and national research institutes to make available breeder and foundation seeds of multi-stress (flood and drought) tolerant (CR Dhan 801, CR Dhan 802), drought tolerant (DRR Dhan 44, BINA Dhan 17) and high yielding, low input requiring (BRRI Dhan 69) paddy varieties,” Dr Sudhanshu Singh, director, IRRI South Asia Regional Centre, Varanasi, said.
To meet the demand for paddy seeds in the state, IRRI, along with Assam Agricultural University, and the state agriculture department, introduced flood-tolerant rice varieties—Ranjit-Sub1, Bahadur-Sub1, Swarna-Sub1, and BINA Dhan 11. From 2018 to 2023, these flood-tolerant rice varieties have been disseminated to the farmer’s field, covering an area of about 4.5 lakh hectares. <br>In Assam, rice stands out as the most significant crop, covering 2.35 million hectares of the state's gross cropped area (3.88 million hectares), constituting 93.7 per cent of the state's total food grain production.
Sali rice (winter rice) encompasses an area of 1.87 million hectares. However, the state's rice productivity is only 2.24 tonnes per hectare, below the national average (2.8 tons/ha). <br>“Despite being an agrarian state, Assam faces a scarcity of quality seeds. The state government relies on importing quality seeds from other parts of India. A critical factor affecting paddy production is the quality of the seed. <br>Recurring floods, damaging about 50 per cent of winter paddy fields, incur substantial losses to the farmers and negatively impact the food security of small and marginal farming families,” the official said.
Jorhat, PIN - 785013 Assam