An Economic Analysis of Yield Gap and Sustainability of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in Assam

摘要

Since green revolution wave didn't touch the state of Assam there is scope to increase production by 3-4 folds through implementation of improved technology with conservation of natural resources. Being a rice cultivating state, System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a very good options for the farmers of Assam, as it provides higher yields with lesser inputs and intensive management practices. The study carried out to find the sources of yield gap between SRI and conventional method of rice cultivation in Assam. The study revealed that cultural practices contributed highest (32.63%) to the yield gap followed by FYM (10.76%) and human labour (7.46%). Seed (-33%) and irrigation (-2.24%) contributed negatively which implied that farmers growing SRI method paddy obtained higher output per hectare than that obtained by the farmers of Conventional method of paddy by spending less on those inputs. SRI was found to be sustainable with sustainability indices ranged from 78.09 to 129.5. It is estimated tobe 56% that implies that SRI can thrive in the conditions of the study area and farmers can avail greater output and ultimately higher income by practicing this method of rice cultivation.