Agriculture in India is mostly based on the luck factor – if rain does not play a spoilsport, farmers produce huge quantities of crops; the scene in exactly the opposite in case of scanty or excessive rain. To do away with this gamble with the monsoon, a new technology is being introduced by the West Bengal government.

“System of Assured Rice Production” or SARP is a technology that had been used by the department of agriculture for the cultivation of “Aman” rice in many areas of Nadia’s Ranaghat sub-division. The farmers have successfully used this technology for rice harvest. It can pave the path for a new horizon in the field of agriculture.

Scanty rainfall at the end of June was a major obstacle for rice cultivators, especially for the cultivation of ‘Aman’ variety of paddy. This is when the government came to the rescue of the farmers.


The method

The method requires very less amount of seedbed. If you have one bigha (0.33 acres approximately) land, you will need to prepare a seedbed measuring 1440 sq ft seed-bed and then sow 1.66 kg seeds. 200 kg of organic fertilizer needs to be added to the land. When adequate water for plantation is there in the soil, the seeds are sowed. In this method the paddy can be kept for maximum of 60 days before rowing. So the farmers do not have to worry because of less rainfall. This method will also increase the harvest yield.


The yield

15% rise in production is expected this year compared to the previous year, as a result of harvesting rice using SARP technology. This year the method has been used in 51 bighas of land in Ranaghat and Kalyani.

The government provided the seeds and other necessary equipments to the farmers. Necessary training was also imparted at a workshop conducted by officials and thus the farmers received adequate motivation to experiment with a new technology.


The way ahead

After the successful experiment of the SARP technology in Ranaghat, the technology will now be tried out in other agricultural belts in the state. Certainly, Bengal is yet again developing a model in agriculture that can solve the nation’s food crisis.