MANGALORE, April 14: Adyar, a small village near here, on Wednesday ushered in a revolution in the field of agriculture.

The village has the first farm that has adopted the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in Kolke pattern (summer crop). A demonstration of a mini manual harvester for smallholdings was also organised for a small group of paddy growers.

Thanks to the initiative of agriculture department of the zilla panchayat, the SRI got off to a flying start in the district. (It was introduced for kharif and rabi crops some time ago.)

The mechanical harvester eliminates the need for labour and runs on kerosene.

Narigutthu Ramesh Shetty's farm, which hosted the demonstration, wore a festive look. Farmers from nearby villages and Bantwal, Puttur and Uppinangady converged on the farm to see Mr. Shetty's new harvester and of paddy grown using the SRI method.

Also known as Madagascar method, the SRI method takes only 2 kg of rice per acre against 20 to 25 kg in the conventional method. It gives a 15-day buffer period for nursery against the conventional nursery production.

The SRI method gives several shoots of rice stalk in a single bunch, which takes less space than the conventional method and the yield is two times more per acre, said Somnath, President of the zilla panchayat.

Mr. Somanath said the agriculture department has launched a drive to popularise the SRI method.

High-yielding paddy

He will ask the department to integrate the SRI method in meeting the target of covering 35,000 hectares in the district with the cultivation of high yielding paddy, namely Jaya and MO4 in the next kharif season.

About the harvester, Mr. Somanath said improved implements and mechanised farming will boost the yield. The Government is keen on introducing them on a large scale.

The new harvester has been designed to harvest one acre of land in one hour and the onboard 4.5 hp kerosene engine consumes just one litre of kerosene for an hour's work.

-Hindu