Hydroponics Paddy Nursery: A Modern Technique

The Better Farming Desk

Traditionally, rice nurseries are prepared in open fields, but this method faces many challenges such as water scarcity, labor shortages, and pest issues. With technological advancement, hydroponics paddy nursery has emerged as a modern solution, especially beneficial for large-scale farmers and those interested in nursery business.

The need of the present time: Irrigation water for rice cultivation is becoming scarce, and farmers are also struggling with the unavailability of laborers. Along with this, there are issues such as excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, significant emissions of greenhouse gases like methane, climate change and unpredictable weather patterns, reduction in soil fertility, reduced productivity, poor yields, and poor water management, among others. In such a situation, hydroponic rice nurseries have emerged as an option. This will not only make it easier to produce high-quality rice but will also reduce the cost of cultivation.

In open fields, there have been more incidents of nursery wilting, yellowing of leaves, whitening, and tip burn while preparing the nursery. The hydroponics system could be a solution to many problems affecting rice producers in India, such as adverse climate and shrinking land and water.

What is hydroponics paddy nursery: In the traditional system, a place is prepared in the field for the rice nursery, after which appropriate fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides are added and the rice seeds are sown. Water is also provided regularly. In this way, after 21-30 days, the plants are ready for transplantation. On the other hand, in the hydroponics method, rice nurseries are prepared without soil. The plants are grown in a nutrient solution with their roots or in inert media like perlite, vermiculite, and gravel. Since nutrients are available in the root zone, the plants grow rapidly and are ready for transplantation in just 7 days, using about eight times less water compared to traditional wet-bed nurseries. In the traditional system, 3000-5000 liters of water are required for one kilogram of rice seeds, while in the hydroponics method, this is achieved with only 400 liters of water.

Growing organic paddy is easy: Hydroponics technology is advantageous compared to traditional methods because crops are grown in a controlled environment, the nursery is free from weeds, and it is protected from pests. In this case, there is no need to use expensive and toxic pesticides or herbicides. This method allows for the complete adjustment of temperature, light, water, and nutrients in optimal conditions, making hydroponic rice nurseries highly productive even with limited water and land area. Plants grown using hydroponic rice nurseries are well established in the field and are particularly useful during late monsoon rains.

Benefits of Hydroponics Paddy Nursery:

• • Faster growth, more tillers, uniform maturity, and higher yields.

• • Early harvest and better returns.

• • Uses 95% less water.

• • Suitable for late monsoon conditions.

• • Land used for nursery can be used for other purposes.

• • Mechanical transplanting ensures uniform spacing and density.

• • Mechanized transplanting covers 1.2–1.6 hectares per day with less labor.

The future is of hydroponics paddy nursery:The Ayurvet Research Foundation is a leader in developing hydroponics technology for rice in the country. The Indian Ministry of Agriculture had provided the commercial testing report for the Ayurvet Pro Green hydroponics machine. The organization has been working on this for the past 10 years and has received a patent for the machine structure and process. Since 2009, the Ayurved Research Foundation has conducted experiments and regional tests with approximately 2,500 rice farmers in 50 villages of Western Uttar Pradesh, as well as in Sonipat and Panipat in Odisha and Haryana. To date, rice plants grown using hydroponics nursery have been transplanted over a total area of 81 hectares.

In 2016, NABARD funded a three-year project for the development of a hydroponically grown rice nursery and mechanized transplantation over 85 hectares in the Sonipat district of Haryana. Under the project, rice plants were grown in trays using the hydroponics system within seven days. On the eighth day, transplantation was done in the farmers' fields using a mechanical transplanter.