The Success Story of Mr. Parthasarathy, the Award-Winning Rice Farmer from Tamil Nadu!

The Significance of Rice and Rice Production in India

Rice constitutes an integral part of almost every Indian’s diet. The fact that rice contributes to over 40% of India’s total food grain production proves the crop’s significance and its demand in Indian cuisine.

Rice is the staple food for around 65% of the Indian population. It occupies an area of 44 million hectare with an average production of 90 million tons and a productivity of 2.3 tons per hectare. Some of the top rice-producing states in India include West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, and Tamil Nadu.

In order to keep pace with the growing population, the estimated rice requirement by 2025 is about 130 mt. To sustain present food self-sufficiency and to meet future food requirements, India has to increase its rice productivity by 3 per cent per annum (Thiyagarajan and Selvaraju, 2001).

However, declining and degrading natural resources like land and water, coupled with acute labor shortage are making rice production a challenge for Indian rice cultivators. Hence, the current situation demands innovative technologies to boost rice production in India.

What Inspired Mr. Parthasarathy to take up Drip Irrigation?

Mr. Thiru. M. Parthasarathy hails from Govindhapuram, Dharapuram Taluk, in the Tiruppur District of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Govindapuram is a small village community of around 1200-1300 homes and a population in the range of 4,000-5,000, most of which are engaged in agriculture.

Govindhapuram, unlike the villages and regions bordering the western ghats on the southern and southwestern parts of the Tiruppur district, receives less rainfall and has a relatively hot and humid climate throughout the year. Further, the continual decrease in the rain in recent years has turned agriculture, and rice cultivation, in particular, even more challenging, daunting, and, moreover, unpredictable.

Despite these challenges, Mr. Parthasarathy had been able to manage to grow a significant, yet continually dipping amount of rice every year with conventional flooding techniques. But, the ever-rising rice demands, the need to achieve a higher RoI, and the rapidly depleting water resources, coupled with scanty rainfall, pointed towards an innovative solution to help him and his fellow farmers grow more rice and save more water.

As a responsible and visionary farmer, Mr. Parthasarathy sensed the potential of drip irrigation, a water-saving modern-age technique that brings several benefits to every farmer’s table. He partnered with Netafim and the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to install drip lines in the cultivable land. Of course, initially, it called for investment. However, considering the futuristic benefits, the investment proved worthwhile.

How much Rice Yield did Mr. Parthasarathy achieve through Drip Rice Cultivation?

Mr. Parthasarathy won the 2015 Innovative Rice Farmer Award for the large-scale adoption of drip irrigation in rice in the Amaravathy Sub-Basin in Tamil Nadu. It is because he achieved astonishing results on all three crop types. Let us look at his achievements for the CR1009, JKRH33, and COR-52 in a tabular format.

Conclusion

Mr. Parthasarathy and the eleven farmers who adopted drip irrigation for rice cultivation have set an example for every rice farmer. They’ve created a win-win situation for themselves by growing more in less and earning more profits than the rice that they had been growing through the conventional irrigation techniques.

Through the results they’ve achieved, the entire group has been instrumental enough in creating awareness about the significance of drip irrigation for rice and in creating a bright future for drip irrigation.