Simerjeet Kaur, Sharif Ahmed, T. Awan, Hafiz Haider Ali, Rajbir Singh, G. Mahajan, B. S. Chauhan
{"title":"Adoption Pattern of Direct-Seeded Rice Systems in Three South Asian Countries during COVID-19 and Thereafter","authors":"Simerjeet Kaur, Sharif Ahmed, T. Awan, Hafiz Haider Ali, Rajbir Singh, G. Mahajan, B. S. Chauhan","doi":"10.3390/crops4030023","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"COVID-19 has caused a deep economic impact on the lives of small and marginal farmers due to travel restrictions, market closures, and social distancing requirements. Due to COVID-induced labor scarcity and water shortage in India, direct-seeded rice (DSR) has emerged as a viable alternative to puddled transplanted rice (PTR). However, there was plenty of labor available in Pakistan and Bangladesh for rice cultivation during COVID-19 times. Therefore, both countries did not observe the shift from PTR to DSR. The cost of inputs, such as seed, fertilizer, pesticide, and fuel, was high due to a supply–demand conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic in three countries. Farmers faced weed problems and physical and/or economical non-availability of suitable machinery for DSR cultivation during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the later years of 2022 and 2023 (post-COVID), the area under DSR decreased by 88% in India, while it remained stagnant in Pakistan and Bangladesh.","PeriodicalId":505308,"journal":{"name":"Crops","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Crops","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/crops4030023","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
COVID-19 has caused a deep economic impact on the lives of small and marginal farmers due to travel restrictions, market closures, and social distancing requirements. Due to COVID-induced labor scarcity and water shortage in India, direct-seeded rice (DSR) has emerged as a viable alternative to puddled transplanted rice (PTR). However, there was plenty of labor available in Pakistan and Bangladesh for rice cultivation during COVID-19 times. Therefore, both countries did not observe the shift from PTR to DSR. The cost of inputs, such as seed, fertilizer, pesticide, and fuel, was high due to a supply–demand conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic in three countries. Farmers faced weed problems and physical and/or economical non-availability of suitable machinery for DSR cultivation during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the later years of 2022 and 2023 (post-COVID), the area under DSR decreased by 88% in India, while it remained stagnant in Pakistan and Bangladesh.