Survey among Happy Seeder Service Providers in Punjab

The Green Revolution has led to intensive, irrigated rice-wheat systems across the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). The limited turn-around time between rice harvest and sowing of the next crop (wheat) and mechanized harvesting of rice pose a critical challenge for farmers to sustainably handle the surplus rice residues. Because only a few economically viable residue-management alternatives are readily available, a majority of the 2.5 million farmers burn an estimated 23 million metric tons of rice stubble in October and November. The rice residue burning and the resultant increase in air pollution have received significant media attention in the recent past. Residue burning causes emission of short-lived climate pollutants, such as methane and black carbon. More importantly, the decrease in air quality due to rice stubble burning has a significant adverse effect on human pulmonary functions. A solution for residue burning is offered by the application of two fundamental principles of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in wheat – minimal soil disturbance and crop residue retention for mulching. CA is heralded as more sustainable than the traditional tillage alternatives. The first-generation CA technology using conventional zero tillage seeder, although reduced the turn-around time for wheat, was not efficient in handling the surplus loose rice residues present on the soil surface. The second-generation direct-seeders (SGDS), such as Happy Seeder, alongside a superior straw management system (e.g., spreaders attached to the combined harvesters), were subsequently developed to facilitate wheat sowing even under heavy stubble and avoid the need for residue burning, making the farming system more sustainable through curtailing the negative environmental externalities. To map the diffusion process of CA (particularly SGDS) and to identify the constraints faced in disseminating the technology among farmers, we conducted a face-to-face survey among the service providers of Happy Seeders in 2022. The survey was conducted in randomly selected villages (where village surveys were conducted) from 8 districts of Punjab.A total of 385 service providers were included (Barnala 12; Fatehgarh_Sahib 49; Jalandhar 37; Ludhiana 86; Moga 18; Nawanshar 20; Patiala 90; Sangrur 73).