Replacement of paddy varieties
Abdul Bayes | Tuesday, 21 June 2016
A picture of the rate of adoption of modern varieties (MVs) of paddy could be gleaned from the data of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) that shows the long-term information on land under MVs. But release of a new variety of paddy at micro level raises an important question: do farmers replace the new variety for the old one? To be frank, we do not have the required data base to answer that question, such as existing land under particular variety. Specially, it is very difficult to obtain the data from government sources. But despite such limitations, we can comment on this based on few sample surveys undertaken on popularity and replacement of varieties by farmers.
It could be observed from a survey conducted by the International Fertiliser Development Corporation (IFDC) that in the dry season of the early 1980s, the most popular variety was IR-8 which was followed by Purbachi, BR-1 and BR-3. In the wet season, the popular varieties were Pajam and IR-20 (Sidhu and Baanante 1984). In another survey, the Agricultural Economics Division of the BRRI found that only three varieties cover 87 per cent of the lands under modern paddy in the wet season. These are BR-11 (64 per cent), Paijam (15 per cent) and BR-4 (8 per cent). In the dry season, on the other hand, the number of MVs grown is large, but three varieties capture 52 per cent of the total paddy land - Purbachi (21 per cent) BR-3 (19 per cent) and IR-8 (12 per cent).
In the 1990s, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) conducted a large-scale survey on different varieties (including traditional varieties) grown in different districts. It appears from the survey that the most popular varieties in the dry season were BR-14 (24 per cent), BR-3 (19 per cent), and BR-1 (9 per cent). In other words, these varieties together occupy 52 per cent of the total area under MVs. On the other hand, only four modern varieties in the wet season covered all areas: BR-11 (52 per cent), Paijam (10 per cent) and BR-10 (10 per cent) and BR-23 (5 per cent).
The IRRI-BIDS survey conducted in 2000 also collected data on specific rice varieties grown in different lands tilled by the sample farmers. It could be observed that the most popular MVs grown during the wet season were BR-11 (42 per cent), Swarna (23 per cent), and Paijam (13 per cent) and they were occupying 78 per cent of the total MV area. In the dry season, a large number of varieties were grown, but the most popular ones were Brridhan 28 (11 per cent), Brridhan 29 (9.0 per cent), BR14 (11 per cent), BR1 (7.0 per cent) and BR8 (6.0 per cent).
From the above-mentioned review, an important observation comes out. It is that farmers still continue to use a number of varieties that were released more than three decades ago. Special mention may made of three varieties - Pajam, Purbachi and IR-8 - that were released with the dawn of MV paddy but, posited popularity till the end of the 1990s. Even in 2000, the early generation varieties BR-1 and BR-3 occupied a large proportion of area in the dry season. Again, BR-11 released in the 1980s was still the single most dominant variety in the wet season of 2000.
The slow pace in the replacement of modern varieties in Bangladesh warrants an explanation. It is often the result of such factors as a weak research-extension linkage, less effective public sector extension system, and the absence of a sound seed market. For example, only 12 per cent of the farmers could access information concerning modern varieties directly from public sector extension officials, and almost 90 per cent of the seeds planted were obtained from farmers' own harvest or were exchanged with neighbours. However, a major reason for low replacement of MVs is the inability of the research system to present new varieties with better traits than the existing ones. The rapid spread of the dry season paddy, such as Bridhan 28 and 29, prove that the traits which farmers prefer most are higher yield levels, maturity in shorter period and good grain quality. As has been mentioned before, only the potential productivity of Bridhan 29 is higher than the MV paddy of the first generation. Again, BR-11 still remains popular because no new variety could be released to replace it in the wet season.
In this context, it is worth noting that a number of varieties released in India entered Bangladesh through informal channels and became highly popular. The IRRI-BIDS survey has shown that Swarna was the second most popular variety in the wet season, and the Indian origin varieties Parijat and Ratna occupied a significant proportion of land in the dry season. One source of research reveals that Indian varieties are relatively more popular among farmers because of their early maturity and good grain quality. But, sadly though, it is true that until very recently the rice research system in Bangladesh had given less strategic importance to shorter maturity and improved grain quality.
Another survey shows that farmers have retreated from the cultivation of MVs and adopted the traditional ones. For example, in two out of 62 villages under study, farmers have been growing MVs in 1988, but have discontinued in 2000. One of the villages is located in the coastal area where installation of a shallow tube-well for irrigation led to the build-up of soil salinity and, hence, adoptions of modern varieties were stopped. In another village, the operation of deep tube wells ceased to exist due to management problems. As an effect, farmers put their hands off from MVs. The household level panel data show that of the farmers who adopted MVs in 1988, 70 per cent continued to adopt in 2000, 9 per cent dropped out and 21 per cent had quit farming to engage full-time in non-farm activities. Again, among the non-adopting farmers in 1988, 28 per cent continued their apathy, 45 per cent became adopters, and 27 had quit farm activities.
The writer is Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.