PAIRA CROPPING SYSTEM -
AGRICULTURE
News: How Odisha is promoting
climate-resilient agriculture through rice fallow initiative
What's in the news?
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The Paira cropping system, a distinctive conservation agricultural practice, has
witnessed a decline in recent years, primarily attributed to the impacts of
climate change.
Key takeaways:
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Cultivation of short-duration
pulse, oilseed crops in rice fallow is helping maximise land use
efficiency, boost farmer’s income and promote regenerative agriculture.
Paira Cropping System:
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The utera/paira cropping method is commonly
practiced in Bihar, Eastern Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.
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It involves a relay
sowing technique where lentil, lathyrus, urdbean, or mung bean seeds are
broadcast in the standing rice crop approximately two weeks before rice
harvest.
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Agronomic interventions such as tillage, weeding,
irrigation, and fertilizer application are not feasible in this system.
However, the productivity of pulses depends on the rice variety.
Advantages of Paira
Cropping:
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Utilizes soil moisture effectively during rice harvesting,
which might otherwise be lost rapidly.
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Experimental evidence suggests that paira cropping yields more lentils compared to
post-rice crop tillage planting.
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Efficient utilization of resources for sustainable crop
intensification and increased land productivity.
Go back to basics:
Relay Cropping:
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Relay cropping is a method of multiple cropping wherein one crop is seeded into the standing second
crop well before the second crop's harvest.
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It addresses various conflicts such as inefficient
resource utilization, controversies in sowing timing, fertilizer application,
and soil degradation.