Abstract:
System of Crop Intensification (SCIJ aims to achieve higher production with less expenditure on land, labor,
capital and water through simple changes in crop management practices. SCI practices help farmers to
unlock the latent potential that are inherent in the crops and the soil biota. SCI in Mustard-Rapeseed
involves very low seed rates of L20 to 600 g/ha; sowing of primed seeds in 20-60 m2 nursery and line
transplanting 8 to 1,2 day old seedlings fhaving 3 to 4 leavesJ in a wider square grid of 30 to 75 cm
depending on the varietal duration. This is followed by inter cultivation operations at fortnightly intervals
using a cycle wheel hoe. Liquid organic manures and botanical preparations are used as inputs. The
technique gives average yields of 2.5MT/ha using organic inputs in farmer's fields as compared to the
national average of 1.1 MT/ha and global average of 2.06 MT/ha. Since 2009 in the Eastern Indian state of
Bihar thousands of farmers have benefitted from SCI using farmer selected varieties of Karan Rai [Brassrca
carinata)by 50o/o increase in yields and93o/o increase in income. It has also been successftrlly demonstrated
in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal in the last 2 years; with the highest
recorded yield of 5.73 MT /ha in Umaria district, of Madhya Pradesh. SCI practices have been successfully
demonstrated with different medium to long duration Brqssica varieties (B carinata, B juncea and B rapa)
having crop cycles of 120-150 days. The technique gives higher yields while significantly reducing input
costs by half, through simple agronomic practices without involving change in seeds through hybridisation
or genetic modification and resorting to high cost inputs.
