In El Niño year, direct seeded rice finds traction with farmers

Farmer Satyavan Sehrawat at his directly seeded rice basmati field in Daryapur Kalan village of Delhi. (Express photo by Harish Damodaran)

Depending on the crop’s duration (115-120 days from seed to grain for Pusa Basmati-1509 and 140-145 days for Pusa Basmati-1121), and also how much it rains, the total irrigations can be anywhere between 20 and 30. Each irrigation uses over 200,000 litres of water per acre.

Those calculations matter, especially in an El Niño year, with rainfall across India being 24.1 per cent below-normal in the current monsoon season (June-September) till July 5.

But it isn’t water alone. Transplanting paddy seedlings in puddled fields requires labour, which is getting increasingly scarce. “I pay Rs 4,000 per acre to the transplanting workers, plus arrange for their chai-paani (refreshments) and LPG cylinder or firewood. Smaller farmers who cannot provide these have to shell out Rs 5,000 per acre,” noted Sehrawat.

Direct seeding advantage

That’s where DSR or direct-seeded rice technology comes in. It dispenses with preparation of nurseries (where paddy seeds are sown and grown into young plantlets over 25-30 days) and uprooting of the seedlings for transplanting in the main field (ten times the nursery area). Nor is there need for puddling and flooding of fields.

Satyavan Sehrawat standing before his flooded field awaiting puddling and transplanting of paddy. (Express photo by Harish Damodaran)

In DSR, the paddy seeds are directly sown in the main field, just like wheat. In transplanted paddy fields, the standing water acts as a natural herbicide, depriving weeds of oxygen and sunlight for their seeds to germinate or already-emerged seedlings to survive. Continuous flooding is necessary to prevent weed growth, especially during the crop’s early stage.

DSR basically replaces water with chemical herbicides. It means growing paddy varieties or hybrids that can “tolerate” their application – in this case, of Imazethapyr, a herbicide that controls a wide spectrum of grassy and broadleaf weeds.

The normal Pusa-1509 and Pusa-1121 varieties Sehrawat cultivates cannot “tolerate” Imazethapyr, as the chemical does not distinguish the crop from the weeds and ends up killing both. What he’s, however, growing now are Pusa Basmati-1985 and Pusa Basmati-1979. These are the Imazethapyr herbicide-tolerant (HT) versions of the same popular basmati varieties bred by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi.

The HT varieties have been developed through non-genetically modified mutation breeding, involving altering the ALS (acetolactate synthase) gene. This is a gene naturally present in rice plants and not introduced from soil bacteria and other unrelated species (as with genetically-modified Bt cotton or hybrid mustard).

“The ALS gene codes for an enzyme responsible for the synthesis of leucine, isoleucine and valine, which are essential amino acids for plant growth and development. Imazethapyr sprayed on normal paddy binds itself to the ALS enzyme, inhibiting the production of these amino acids,” explained A.K. Singh, former IARI director.

A farm labourer transplanting paddy seedlings at a field on the Delhi-Haryana border. (Express photo by Harish Damodaran)

The two HT basmati varieties bred by him and fellow IARI scientists contain a mutated ALS gene whose DNA sequence has been altered. While amino acid synthesis isn’t inhibited, the ALS enzyme no longer has binding sites for Imazethapyr. The paddy plants can then “tolerate” the herbicide, which will only kill the weeds.

An inflection year

Last year, Sehrawat tried out Pusa Basmati-1985 and Pusa Basmati-1979 on one-acre land each. The results were good enough for him to expand DSR to 20 acres this year: 16 acres under the first and four under second HT variety.

“There’s no paneeri (nursery preparation) here or labour required for ropai (transplanting). And I’m saving 30-35 per cent water, as the field does not have to be flooded. Irrigation is given sirf nami barkarar rakhne ko (to retain moistness),” he pointed out.

Sehrawat completed the DSR sowing of his 20 acres between May 27 and June 8: “I had to only plough my field once and use a laser land leveler (for ensuring uniform placement of seeds and fertilisers as well as distribution of water) before sowing”.

Praveen Kumar with his DSR planter machine at his home in Daryapur Kalan village of Delhi. (Express photo by Harish Damodaran)

The laser levelling operation cost Rs 1,500 per acre. Sehrawat spent the same amount on sowing the seeds with a 55-horsepower tractor-mounted DSR machine belonging to Praveen Kumar, a five-acre farmer from the same village.

Kumar has sown 200-plus acres of land in Daryapur Kalan this time using the machine, which maintains a uniform 20 cm row-to-row and 15 cm plant-to-plant spacing. “I bought the DSR machine for Rs 1.4 lakh. It covers an acre in one hour, burning 2.5-3 litres of diesel,” he stated.

Sehrawat sprays Pendimethalin, a pre-emergent herbicide applied within 72 hours of sowing before the weed seeds germinate. Spraying of Imazethapyr, a post-emergence herbicide, is after 18-20 days.

“I will do DSR on 40 acres next year. For me, it is a proven technology. Haath kangan ko arsi kya, padhe-likhe ko farsi kya (the bracelet in hand is visible without mirror, just as a scholar does not have to be taught Persian)”, he declared.

Growing farmer acceptance

In 2025, the total area under the two HT basmati varieties was estimated at 10,000 acres. A K Singh sees that touching 100,000 acres this year.

But it isn’t basmati alone.

Savannah Seeds Pvt. Ltd has incorporated its proprietary mutated ALS gene ‘FullPage’ trait into two non-basmati paddy hybrids, Sava-134 and Sava-127, which also confer Imazethapyr-tolerance and enable DSR.

“In 2024, our two HT hybrids were planted in 14,000 acres. That rose to 40,000 acres in 2025 and will hit 120,000 acres this year,” Ajai Rana, chief executive officer of the Indian subsidiary of the Alvin (Texas, US)-headquartered RiceTec Inc., told The Indian Express.

The 120,000 acres includes 45,000 acres in Madhya Pradesh, 35,000 acres in Chhattisgarh, 25,000 acres in Punjab-Haryana and 15,000 acres in western Uttar Pradesh.

“There is very good traction for HT-DSR because availability of water and labour for both transplanting and manual weeding is an issue now. Our seeds are sold out and we haven’t been able to meet the demand,” added Rana.

Savannah has licenced its ‘FullPage’ HT trait to five companies: Bayer CropScience, Rallis India, Shriram Bioseed, Mahyco and SeedWorks International. IARI, too, has signed agreements with six private sector players – Mahyco, Kaveri Seed, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Pan Seeds, Yashoda Hybrid Seeds and Leadbeter Seeds – to transfer its HT basmati trait into their hybrids and varieties.

These should further help boost DSR acreages in the coming years. Besides IARI and Savannah, the Cuttack (Odisha)-based Central Rice Research Institute has released CR Dhan-807 and CR Dhan-812. Both are Imazethapyr-tolerant non-basmati paddy varieties. They have been developed by using ‘Robin’ (the HT ALS mutant line) as the donor parent for transferring the trait into existing popular varieties, namely Sahbhagi Dhan and Swarna Sub-1.