TRAINING REPORT

STUBBLE MANAGEMENT
IN RICE

Submitted To : Submitted By:

Deptt.Of Pargat Singh
Agriculture BSc.Agri.[Hons] Sem-7TH
1512273
 Acknowledgement:
I would like to thank Dr.Gurbax Singh and Head
of the Department Dr.Randeep kaur Bal who
organized this training. Moreover a special thanks
to Er Ranbir Singh who gave his lecturer on
Stubble Management.
It was a great experience listening to the experts
about the problems and and the solutions
concerned with stubble management.
 INDEX
1. Introduction

2. Need for stubble management in rice

3. Problems associated with stubble

management

4. Methods of stubble management

in rice

a. in situ method

b. ex situ method

5. Economic analysis of the various

techniques used
6. Future prospectus in relation to Punjab
 Introduction

With every crop production, there arises certain biological waste which is termed as
“straw”, which is actually left over portion of cultivated crop after taking away the
“Economic portion” of the cultivated crop. The “Economic part” of the crop can be
defined as the “useful part” which is having some sort of value associated with it.
The proportion of the economic part and straw vary
from crop to crop and variety to variety. In case of food grains like Rice, Wheat etc
which belong to Family Poaceace the harvest index which is ratio of economic part
of straw stands between 0.60 to 0.65
As we know, the economic part of the crop is taken
away for its use, straw is left in the field .as we know straw is directly of no
economic value until it is not changed to some useful form, there is need to manage
the straw someway i.e. either there is need to convert the straw into either some
useful form or manage it in some other way without changing the its form .
Further the straw is wide, means it involves all the non useful
part in production of the given crop. But all the non economic parts are not of equal
significance i.e. some parts are of more significance than others. Stubble forms the
important part of straw. Stubble may be defined as that portion of the crop plant
which is still rooted in the soil along the stem after the harvest of the crop plant.
Stubble component of the straw is also important in the sense that stubble
management is one of the crucial one. In fact Stubble management is sometimes
termed as straw management as stubble forms the single largest part by volume of
the total straw generated in the given crop production.

In case of the food grains, amount of the straw generated during the crop production
is bulky in nature . Hence there is need to have proper straw management strategy
for them. As we know there are two methods to manage the straw thus generated
from the given crop production- either took them off from the field then use them in
some way or may the necessary modifications in order to bring them into the
useable form or use them in the field either directly or in some other way.
In case of most of the crops , straw is mainly

incorporated in the field before in the sowing of the next crop. This method is

mainly used in case of those crops in which the biological matter production is low

enough to easily incorporate the straw into soil within given time and cost domains.

In case of crops with high biological production, straw management becomes an

important issue with the crop production of that given crop.

Straw management in case of rice which is

major food crop is important aspect in the sense that huge quantities of the straw is

generated in case of rice crop production and it become to manage the straw in

given time and cost dimensions because rice is part of most of the intensive crop

rotations. In case of rice, likewise the other crops , the stubbles form the larger

portion of total straw generated from the successful crop production of rice.

The problem of rice straw management

in the major producer states like Punjab, Haryana is escalated by the fact the time

window for the straw management in these states is very narrow i.e. 10-15 days due
to preparation of the field for the sowing of the Wheat crop which is major crop

rotation of these two agriculture intensive states of the country. Hence there is need

for proper straw management strategy for effective utilization of the straw

generated from the field from cultivation of the rice crop. For this purpose ,Punjab

Agricultural University, Ludhiana have developed many new scientific methods for

straw management alongside the traditional methods which are operational in the

state.

In order to provide the information to agriculture students

regarding the various methods used for straw management, there is lecture

organized by the Department of Agriculture , Khalsa College, Amritsar in which Dr

Manpreet singh, Assistant Agriculture Engineer ,Department of Agriculture,

Government of Punjab gave the detailed information regarding the various methods

practiced in Punjab for the Straw Management in case of rice crop production along

with the pro and cros of using of them in the management of paddy straw.

Along with the information regarding the

various methods used for straw management in rice crop production, Dr. Manpreet

Singh also told the economic viability of the various methods used along with

various constrains in using them out in the field.

 Need for Straw Management in Rice

crop
There are various reasons which make it necessary to have a proper straw
management strategy for the proper and efficient management of the straw
produced in rice crop production. These causes are described as follow:

Preparation of field for next crop:

The main issue behind the straw management within the given time and cost
dimensions is attributed to the reason that in case of Punjab and Haryana, rice is
part of the most of the intensive crop rotations. Hence there is need to vacant the
field as early as possible so as to prepare field for the sowing of the next crop. This
lead to very small time window for effective straw management to take place . Due
to this, farmer use those methods which provide them field vacant with the time
span of 10-15 days. Also in case of the some of the crops which are followed by the
rice crop there, straw of the rice tend to be hindrance in the sowing operation, initial
germination, hence in that case, management of rice straw act as the first step in the
cultivation of that crop.

Proper use of the straw produced:

Straw management is also necessary from the point of the view that there is need to

properly utilize the straw thus produced in the process of rice crop production so as
to convert the straw thus produced into the process from being a “useless thing” to a

“useful thing” .Utilization of the straw can be either by directly using it in someway

or convert it before use in some process.

To storage/ collect straw for various purposes:

The straw thus produced is used for various purposes like in paper industry ,as a

cattle fodder, for electricity production, in compost preparation ,as a mulching

material for vegetables and other crops. Hence there is need to properly collect the

straw from the field s that there is no degradation of quality of the straw thus

produced. Storage is needed in case the straw thus collected is not needed

immediately or it is not consumable directly .

Integral part of rice crop production:

The straw management in case of the rice is considered as the integral part of crop

production which means that the straw production from the rice is kept in mind

while taking the decision of having rice crop production. It is because of the

following reasons:

1. The straw thus produced can be used for the various purposes, hence of

economic importance.

2. The straw thus produced is of bulky nature, hence there is need to manage the

straw properly.

All of the above mentioned factors make it necessary to have proper straw

management of rice after rice crop production.

 Problems associated with stubble

management

Bulky nature of straw: As straw produced during the rice crop production

is of bulky nature, hence it is difficult to manage. It leads to difficulty in

collecting, incorporation to soil, storage of the straw thus produced. As we

now there is need to vacant the field as early as possible in order to for

preparation of the field for the wheat crop.

Nature of the straw: At the time of harvesting of the rice crop, the straw

produced is in neither decomposed state nor in growth state which means it

can not be used directly in most of the tasks it can be used. Hence there is

need to change in more effective form before using.

Small time window: In case of rice –wheat crop rotation which is the most

preferred crop rotation of the Punjab and Haryana, the time window for the

preparation of the field for wheat crop sowing is 10-15 days after the

harvesting of the rice crop. Keeping in mind the bulky nature of straw, it is

difficult to effectively manage the straw thus produced.

Cost constrains: As the straw produced is bulky in nature , hence its

management involve the huge costs. Sometimes it is not profitable to spend

such amount of the capital for straw management as it is not providing

returns enough to have such expenditure to be incurred on the straw

management.

Lack of adequate machinery: The lack of adequate machinery for proper

management of the straw is also a major constrain in effective utilization of

the straw. Most of the machines used are very costly in nature, hence not

affordable by the small and marginal farmers of the Punjab and Haryana.
 Methods Of Stubble Management in Rice

There are two approaches to the straw management in case of straw produced

from the rice crop production. They are described as follow:

1. Ex-situ approach

2. In-situ approach

Ex-situ approach

In this approach, straw is managed by taking the straw out of the field and

then using it for the various purposes. It is simple and easy method of

managing the straw. In this method when the rice crop is harvested from the

field then the straw is collected either manually or with either help with the

help of the machines especially designed for this purpose. The collected straw

is used for variety of purposes which are explained as below:

 As a raw material in the paper industry

 As a dried fodder for the cattle

 As a mulching material in the vegetable crops

 In mushroom cultivation
  For electricity production

 As a building material in trash huts

Methods of collecting

Manual : In this method ,the straw is collected manually by the farmers from the

fields. It is simple but highly time consuming method which do not found much

application in the intensive nature of modern agriculture.

With baler: The mainly used method for collection of the straw from the field is

with the help of the machine known as Baler .In this method, baler collects the

straw which spreader cuts down and spread on the field. But high cost of the baler

results in its limited application. In case of Punjab ,the Government is providing

the subsidy for the purchase of the equipment of the like baler.
 In- Situ Approach
In the method, the straw is managed within the field with the help of the various
techniques which are as explained as below:
1.Direct incorporation into soil: In this method, stubble is directly incorporated
into soil with the help of the following methods:
Stubble cutter cum spreader: Firstly the stubble is cut down by the cutter cum
spreader. Then it is incorporated in the field within the field with the help of the
mould board plough into the field. This method needs a tractor with hp more than
45 hence this method is not very popular as most of the farmers do not have
access to such machinery.
Stubble chopper cum spreader:
In this method, firstly the stubble are chopped and spread by the chopper cum
spreader in the field. Then the mould board plough is used to incorporate into the
soil. Likewise the previous method in this method also, there is need to have a
tractor of more than 45 hp , which limits this method use by only large farmers.

Mulcher followed by mould board plough

In this method, firstly the straw is converted into the layer of uniform thickness
which is spread evenly over the field .Then depending upon the thickness of such
layer, either the disc harrow or mould board plough can be used to incorporate it
into the soil. This is also not very popular method among the farmers due to time
and cost constrains involved with it.
b) Direct sowing of the next crop:
Rather than using machines for incorporating the straw into the field followed by
the field preparation for the next crop, in case of some crops mainly Wheat, direct
sowing of the crop can be practiced with the help of machines which are especially
designed for this purpose. It involve the following techniques:
Use of SMS system followed by the happy seeder :
In this method firstly the harvesting is done with the help of the combine harvester

having SMS system attached to them. The SMS system results in the spread of the

straw evenly all over the surface. Then the sowing of the wheat is done with help of

the happy seeder machine. This is most prevalent method for the management of

the rice straw in the field. Also the wheat sown by this method tend to have the

higher yield and less water required during the crop production period.
Chopper /Cutter Cum Spreader followed by the Happy Seeder: In this method,

instead of preparing the field by the incorporating the straw followed by field

preparation, after using chopper/cutter cum spreader , directly use the Happy seeder

for sowing of the crop of wheat. This leads to less cost of the field preparation for

the wheat crop. This method is limited in use because of no. of operations need to

be done in this method.

Effect of rice straw incorporation on the yield of the wheat crop

Straw Year Average

Management 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
Rice straw 18.4 17.8 18.7 19.2 20.4 18.9
removed +
100% NPK
Rice straw 21.3 19.3 19.7 21.6 21.7 20.8
incorporated+
100% NPK
 Effect of rice straw incorporation on the soil properties

Year Organic Phosphorus( Potassium Bulk Total

carbon kg / acre) (kg/acre) Density Porosity
3
(mg/m)
2011- 0.39 14.3 41.6 1.68 36.4
12
2015- 0.54 19.0 58.0 1.55 41.5
16

Economic analysis of the various

techniques used

Apart from knowing the economics and impacts of rice straw

management alternatives, it is also important to understand farmers’
decision-making behavior regarding their current rice straw management
practices.
Comparative Economics of Conventional Method
versus Happy Seeder for Straw Management in
Punjab
The conventional method of sowing wheat involves many pre-sowing
operations like harrowing, heaping removing stubbles of rice and
ploughing with cultivator. The perusal of Table 1 clearly showed
that all these operations when performed accounted to an amount of
Rs1625 per acre. On the other hand, use of Happy Seeder reduces the
cost on all these operations substantially as the land preparation and
sowing is done simultaneously at one time with the Happy Seeder
machine and the cost on same was calculated to Rs675 per acre
including labour charges. So, if we analyze the economics of Happy
Seeder for management of paddy straw, it shows that Happy Seeder is
much more economically effective as compared to conventional method
as it gives a net saving of Rs950 per acre. This amount is an additional
financial advantage derived from using Happy Seeder technology for
paddy straw management and wheat sowing.
Conclusion
All stakeholders i.e., farmers, supply and value chain service providers,
researchers, extension agents, policy makers, civil servants, consumers
need to be engaged in understanding and harnessing the full potential of
using op residues with conservation agriculture for sustainability
and resilience of Indian agriculture. This comparison study concluded
that Happy Seeder has emerged as the most economical paddy straw
management technique in Punjab. It can be suggested that zero till drill
and Happy Seeder machines need to be made available to the farmers
in sufficient quantity in Punjab. At the same time, it is equally essential
that these machines are supplied to the agricultural cooperative
societies and farmers on subsidized rates. Adequate promotion of these
technologies is also imperative to make the farmers aware and
knowledge able regarding the economic benefits of these
technologies.
 Future Prospectus In
Relation To Punjab
India generates some 620 million tonnes of crop residue
annually, which has significant nutrient potential. However, most
of it in burnt on the fields taking air pollution to dangerously
high levels. The on-farm burning of crop residues has
intensified in recent years as low cost and easily adaptable
technologies for its handling and management are unavailable,
and the window between harvesting one crop and sowing the
next is extremely short. PAU experts develop crop residue
recycling technologies as an alternative to burning stubble .
Rice-wheat cropping system major cropping system in state .
These crops occupy about 35 -30 lakh hectares of area in Punjab.
Punjab alone contributes 65% of the total residue produced by
the northwestern states. Hence there is huge scope of value
creation from straw if it is managed carefully.
The various problems arising out of the burning of the paddy
straw can be dealt effectively only the government of the farmers
for the purchase and use of the equipment for incorporation of
the strw into the field in the form of subsidies ,incentives etc.