1.

INTRODUCTION;
Indian agriculture kept realizing the benefits of green
revolution with accelerated in crop yields that kept pace with population
growth. The green revolution is associated with introduction of inputresponsive varieties that resulted in the use of fertilizer, expansion in
irrigation, higher cropping intensity and increased use of pesticides. India
has achieved significant success in the field of food grain production
registering commandable increase in such production from nearly 50.8 Mt
during 1950-51 to about 215 Mt while entering the 21 st century (FAI,
2005). How ever, in view of the escalating population needs to be
elevated further to reach about 301 Mt within 2025 for feeding 1400
million people (Kanwar, 1997). In the light of the fact that nearly 60 per
cent of the area in India is already under cultivation (Katyal, 1997), there
is a very little scope for further increase in area under agriculture. So, it is
the time to select appropriate technology which can provide food security
for the ever increasing human population in a Cultivable land being a
gradually shrinking resource, this increased production can only be
achived through adoption of proper management and new technology
practices in a environment friendly way. Among different factors
controlling productivity in agricultural lands, tillage has been observed to
show strong association with crop productivity (Ghosh, 2000). Although
this importance was envisaged long back, yet the understanding has
gained momentum during the recent period of transformation of
subsistence agriculture to commertial farming (Kadrekar, 1993).
On the other hand one of the critical challenges of the 21 th
century will be the resolution of the water crisis.Over use and misuse of
fresh water has causedwater shortages, wastage and contamination.the
food supply of future generations will depend even more on the capacity
of

irrigated

agriculture

ti

produce

food

in

an

environmentally,

economically and financially sustainable manner.Humanity will need to

brieng a Blue Revolution in the 21th century to complete the so called
Green Revolutin of the 20th cetury in order to feeda growing world

popualtion within the parameters of likely water availability.agriculture

currently consumes 70% of the worlds developed fresh water supplies.By
improving the productivity of waterused for agriculture by 40%, it is
possillre to reduce the amount of additional fresh water withdrawals
needed to feed the worlds growing population to zero.It is anticipated
that the present level of diversion of water for agriculture in India is likely
to reduce from 85 to 69 % in the future due to other competing
demands.The per capita availability of water in India declined from
5300m3 in 1955 to 1818m3 based on 2001 census and it is projected to
be 1235m3 by 2050 (Sikka et al., 2005).Improving the productivity of
water used in agriculture is the key to solving these problems. Getting
more crop per drop enhances food securityand makes more water
availability for nature, industry and domestic uses.For a farmer, Water
Saving is likely to mean using less irrigation water to growa crop ideally
with the same or higher yield, thus increasing irrigation water productivity.
After water soil is an important coponent of the biosphere because
it is not only a geochemical sink for contaminants, but also acts as
anatural buffer controlling the transport of chemical elements and
substances to the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biota.However the most
important role of soil is its productivity, which is basic for the survival of
humans.Thus, maintenace of the ecological and agricultural functions of
soil is the responsibility of mankind. A substantial increase in crop
production achieved through green revolution since the 1960s was
possible mainly through the use of improved high yielding varieties of
crops (HYVs) and high quantity of input of fertilizer and plant protection
chemicals. But, now a days it has been realized that this higher production
was achieved at the cost of soil health. Afterwards, many evidences of unsustainable high production obtained in green revolution belts of India,
have been reported inspite of liberal application of NPK fertilizers. This
diminishing or stagnating yield pattern was ascribed to multiple nutrient
deficiencies and imbalance of nutrients and also to lack of organic matter
application in present day agriculture. In view of this fact, more emphasis

should be given on development of strategies to prevent declining trend

of crop yields and to maintain the soil health and eco-friendly
environment.
Rice (Oriza sativa L.) is the most important and staple food crop
for more than two third of the population of India. The slogan Rice is life
is most appropriate for India as this crop plays a vital role in our national
food security and is a means of livelihood for millions of rural households.
India has the largest acreage under rice (44.6 m.ha) and with a production
of about 90 million tones. It ranks second next to China. But, at the
current rate of population growth, rice production has to be enhanced to
about 125 million tones by 2020 (Mishra, 2005). Achieving this target is a
major challenge since this increase has to be attained with the shrinking
land and water resources, scarce and costly labour and other imputes and
deteriorating environment. The high production cost and scarcity of water
for crop cultivation are some of the major problems faced by farmers in
many rice-based cropping systems in the country. In many crop production
systems, around 15-20 % of the total cost of production accounts for
tillage/land preparation, such activities also consumes around 15 % of the
total water requirement. Hence, it is important to adopt technologies that
would save water and reduce the cost of cultivation without sacrificing the
yield.
Tillage is one of the most important field operations in the
production of rice and other field crops. The primary objective of tillage is
to control the weeds and have a good 'seed bed' for the establishment of
a better crop. In addition, it helps to reduce soil compaction. Zero-tillage
or no-till farming systems have been developed and applied around the
world over several decades. The benefits of zero-tillage in economic,
production and the environmental aspects of farming have been
recognized. The high cost of production is one of the major constraints in
the cultivation of rice and the production of other field crops. Tillage and
other field preparations required to prepare the fields for planting various
types of irrigated crops and rice cultivation, account for around 20 % of

the total cost on average (DOA 2008). Therefore, finding ways and means
to cut down the tillage cost is important to further reduce the cost of
production. In addition to the cost factor, farmers also face other problems
in preparing the land, such as the difficulty of finding tractors on time,
labor scarcity during the land preparation and establishment period and
inadequate time for land preparation (Tilakaratne and Tilakeratne 2003).
It is important to clarify that the vast majority of Indian farmers are
psychologically in favour of conventional tillage for almost all crops. This
philosophy has been passed on from one generation to the next. Most
growers and more specifically the older ones still believe that the more
you till the more you eat. And it is obvious that if you grow in much, you
can lead a comparatively more comfortable and prosperous life. A
similarly other local saying like your wife can cheat you but not the
tillage or The money lender can refuse you any time but tillage wont
disappoint you are often used to support age-old perceptions and to
convince their children to pot for more field preparations before any crop
is sown. This mind set still holds so firmly that it looks like you are
betraying the public when you even suggest such radical techniques like
Zero or no tillage. Explanation of this background will be helpful to
understand the situation in which scientists not only undertook initiatives
from 1996-97 onwards to work on zero-tillage in India but also achieved
glorious success.
During 1996-97, research on zero tillage in wheat and rice was
initiated at farmers field on 10 acres with four zero-till seed-cum- fertilizer
drills supplied by Monsanto in Haryana. To date, the wheat area under
zero tillage has exceeded 1.5 million ha wilt approximately 25000 zero
tilled machines owned by farmers. Success of this resource conservation
technology in Haryana proved a boom for farmers but also served as an
example to trigger the on going efforts of scientists and farmers in the
other states of India. Now it is really being considered as second
revolution after the first Green Revolution.

Innovative partnerships among researchers, farmers, and other

actors in the agricultural value chain have enabled the adoption of zerotillage to sow wheat after rice on nearly 2 million hectares in the IndoGangetic Plains, increasing farmers' incomes, fostering more sustainable
use of soil and water, and providing a platform for cropping diversification
and the introduction of other resource-conserving practices. Summary:
Zero-tillage cultivation is a farming practice that reduces costs while
maintaining harvests and protecting the environment. During 1997-2004,
an estimated 620,000 farmers in northern India adopted the method to
sow wheat after the rice harvest on around 1.76 million hectares of land,
with average incomes increasing by US$180-$340 per household per year.
The impact achieved resulted from long-term efforts involving direct
promotion and testing with farmers, training and support for national
programme champions willing to oppose conventional wisdom about
tillage practices and development of affordable, locally manufactured
seed drills. Efforts were led by the Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) for the
Indo-Gangetic Plains, a partnership involving the national research
programmes of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, and with key
technical and logistical support from the International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Facts & figures1

Zero-tillage wheat

cultivation now covers an estimated 1.76 million hectares in India and

has been adopted by around 620,000 farmers. India was highly successful
in developing local manufacturing capacity to adapt and produce zerotillage drills at a competitive cost. In 2003, the average price of a zero-till
drill was US$325 in India, compared with US$559 in Pakistan. Specifically,
zero tillage reduces the number of field operations from an average of
seven to one, translating into 8-12 hours per ha saved in tractor time (a
60-90% saving); farmers can save 36 litres of fuel per ha of land, an 80%
saving over conventional wheat cultivation.

Reduces water usage by

about 1 million litres per ha (a saving of 20-35%). Improves soil structure,

fertility, and biological properties.

Typically reduces the incidence of

weeds, primarily due to the earlier emergence of wheat and reduced soil
disturbance. Improves the population dynamics of certain wheat pests

and diseases. Increases wheat yield by 6-10% and reduced production

costs by 5-10%. Studies in India suggest that adopting farmers can boost
their income by US$97 per hectare of land, and increase annual income
by US$180-$340.

Zero tillage has increased wheat yields by 5-7% for

Indian farmers. After the success of Zero tillage wheat cultivation in India
as well as in Bengal , Scientists are now pay their attention to Zero tillage
Paddy.
Ranaghat-I Block is situated in Nadia district with Latitude: 2312'
N. Longitude: 8832'E. Height from sea level 52.50ft (approx) with an area
123 km. It is situated in Gangetic Alluvial Region of West Bengal. Soils of
the area mostly nutrial in reaction containing higher proportion of fine
sand and silt. Fertility status of soil is medium in respect of N and P and
rich in K and Ca. This particular area is subjected to flood during rainy
seasons. As the other portion of Bengal Paddy is the major field crop for
the farmers of this area. Average production of Paddy in this area varies
from 33.5t Ha-1 to 4.5t Ha-1

. Rice cultivation in this area has been

conducted by hand transplanting traditionally. The problems/constraints in

rice production is more or less same in this area.. The major rice growing
areas generally experiences high rainfall and severe flood almost every
year. The loss to the rice crop is considerably very high. Besides, in upland
areas the crop gets setback either from high rainfall or drought condition.
It has also been observed that certain category of soils do not give the
desired yield response to the balanced application of N.P.K. fertilizers.
About 50% of the farmers are small and marginal in this area and they
are poor in resource. Therefore, they are not in a position to use optimum
quantity of inputs in their crops which are essential for increasing the
productivity. Often rice crop suffers with soil moisture stress due to erratic
and inadequate rainfall. In upland soils rain water flows down quickly and
farmers are not able to conserve the soil moisture. There is also no facility
for life saving irrigation particularly in upland and drought prone rainfed
lowland areas. Low soil fertility due to soil erosion resulting in loss of plant
nutrients and moisture is another problem. Low and imbalanced use of

fertilizers, low use efficiency of applied fertilizers, heavy infestation of

weeds and insects/pests such as blast and brown spot and poor attention
for their timely control (upland and rainfed lowland),Poor crop plant
population in case of broadcast sowing method resulting in uneven
germination (upland and direct seeded lowlands) . Delay in monsoon
onset often results in delayed and prolong transplanting and sub-optimum
plant population (Mostly in rainfed lowlands) and Poor adoption of
improved crop production technology due to economic backwardness of
the farmers (upland and lowlands) creates the situation more hazardous.
At the same time higher cost of production, low availability of field labour
due to migration from this area and ultimately poor market price of paddy
creats a gloomy picture in paddy cultivation in Ranaghat.
So A new technologies to provide opportunities to reduce the cost of
production, save water and nutrients, increase yields, increase crop
diversification, improve efficient use of resources, and benefit the
environment is very much need by the farmers of this location. To keep
pace with the regions exploding food demands and to adapt to water
shortages and climate change, farmers need technologies that can help
them improve yields while saving resources, cutting production costs and
sustaining environmental quality. Zero-tillage - the direct seeding of paddy
into unploughed field - offers a more sustainable alternative:
Considering this hypothesis and realizing the
importance of the problem, the present investigation was undertaken to
study the EVALUATION OF ZERO TILLAGE TECHNOLOGY IN PADDY
CULTIVATION AS COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL CULTIVATION IN
RANAGHAT-I BLOCK, NADIA DISTRICT IN KHARIF 2015 with the
following objectives.
i) How resource conservation technology such as ZERO TILLAGE can
improve productivity of Paddy over the conventional cultivation
technology in environment friendly way.

ii) To quantify the possibility of substitution by Zero tillage paddy

cultivation in Ranaghat-I Block in Nadia over the traditional Paddy
cultivation.
iii) To find out potential of Zero tillage paddy cultivation in Ranaghat-I
Block to save time, energy, water and labor during crop establishment.
iv) To reduce the Cost of paddy cultivation by Zero Tillage method in
Ranaghat-I Block in Nadia over the traditional Paddy cultivation to
enhance economic stability of farmers.
v) To enhance soil health for achieving sustainable productivity and ecofriendly environment by zero tillage method.
vi)

Assessment of the farmers response over zero tillage paddy

cultivation in Ranaghat-I Block, Nadia district.