Direct-seeded rice variety under rodents’ attack

CHANDIGARH: Punjab’s paddy growers who opted for direct seeded rice (DSR) variety this kharif season are a worried lot as their newly sown crop is under rodents’ attack.

By an estimate of the state agriculture department, 15-17 lakh acres across the state are under DSR cultivation and there is no area which hasn’t been damaged by the rodents. Of the 50 lakh acres under coarse variety paddy, one-third is sown through direct-seeded method.

“The problem is across the state, rats digging into the fields and eating freshly sown paddy seeds which have sprouted into small saplings,” said secretary agriculture KS Pannu, adding that the state department has recommended certain rodenticides to protect the crop and the results are good.

“Farmers have the traditional methods of keeping rats away from their fields by mixing celphos in certain edible material and keeping it in the fields. However,

our department doesn’t recommend farmers to use celphos,” added Pannu.

For the first time, farmers in state have opted for DSR variety on such a large scale mainly due to shortage of labour for paddy transplantation.

According to Makhan Singh Bhullar, an agronomist at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) who is working on DSR for many years, suggested farmers to use rodenticide zinc sulphate.

He said in some farms, rodents have eaten 70-80% newly sown DSR crop, forcing farmers to sow it again. Bhullar said, “Water seeps into the burrows of rodents beneath paddy fields and they move to dry areas. Rodents like to eat rice and fresh sprouts taste even sweeter than the dry rice.”

He said most affected are the areas near godowns, canal and human habitations.

Nek Singh a farmer from Khokh village in Nabha said his five-acre crop was damaged and had to be sown all over again. “Loss and gain could only be accessed after the crop is harvested,” he added.