The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is expected to issue a draft regulation for labels on front of food packets.
What is FoPL?
In India, packaged food has had back-of-package (BOP) nutrient information in detail but no FoPL.
Counter to this, FoPL can nudge people towards healthy consumption of packaged food.
It can also influence purchasing habits.
The study endorsed the HSR format, which speaks about the proportions of salt, sugar, and fat in food that is most suited for consumers.
Countries such as the UK, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Hungary, and Australia have implemented FoPL systems.
What warranted such rating in India?
Visual bluff: A lot of Indian consumers do not read the information available at the back of the packaged food item.
Burden of NCDs: Also, India has a huge burden of non-communicable diseases that contributes to around 5.87 million (60%) of all deaths in a year.
Healthy dietary choices: HSR will encourage people to make healthy choices and could bring a transformational change in the society.
Supreme Court order: A PIL seeking direction to the government to frame guidelines on HSR and impact assessment for food items and beverages was filed in the Supreme Court in June 2021.
Which category of food item will have HSR?
All packaged food items or processed food will have the HSR label.
These will include chips, biscuits, namkeen, sweets and chocolates, meat nuggets, and cookies.
However, milk and its products such as chenna and ghee areEXEMPTED as per the FSSAI draft notified in 2019.
Will there be pushback from food industry?
Negative warning: Some experts opposed the use of the HSR model in India, suggesting that consumers might tend to take this as an affirmation of the health benefits rather than as a negative warning of ill effects.
Lack of awareness: This is significant because there is lack of awareness on star ratings related to consumer products in India.
Impact on Sale: Certain organisations fear it might affect the sale of certain food products.
When will the rating come into force?
FSSAI’s scientific panel recommends voluntary implementation of HSR format from 2023 and a transition period of four years for making it mandatory.
It noted that the proposed thresholds are in alignment with the models implemented in other countries and ‘WHO population nutrient intake goals recommendations’.
FSSAI will analyse the nutritional information in 100 mg of packaged food.
The food safety compliance system licensing application portal will have a module for generating certificates wherein a licensee can enter details of a product.
On May 4, the government lowered its wheat production estimates by 5.7% to 105 million tonnes (MT) from the projected 111.32 MT for the crop year ending June.
Decline in wheat production
India is the second largest producer of wheat in the world, with China being the top producer and Russia the third largest — Ukraine is the world’s eighth largest producer of wheat.
After five straight years of a bumper wheat output, India has had to revise downwards its estimated production.
Unprecedented heatwaves across the north, west and central parts of the country, and March and April being the hottest in over 100 years, have caused substantial loss to the yield.
Researchers attributed the lower estimates to “early summer” affecting the crop yields in States, especially Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Why is there a decline in govt procurement?
Ukrainian war: Private traders have been prompted to buy more wheat from farmers as the price of wheat at the international level has shot up due to Ukrainian war.
Higher prices: A large quantity of wheat was being bought by traders at a higher rate than the minimum support price (MSP).
Hoarding by farmers and traders: Also, farmers are holding on to some quantity of wheat, expecting higher prices for their produce in the near future.
How will this impact the public distribution of grain?
Wheat procurement is undertaken by the state-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other agencies at MSP to meet the requirements under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Other running welfare schemes is the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) introduced during the pandemic.
The government has revised the grain allocation under PMGKAY for May to September 2022.
According to the new guidelines, the FCI will fill the gap left by wheat with an increased allocation of rice.
Pointing out that from next year, fortified rice will be distributed to the entire Public Distribution System (PDS).
Will domestic wheat prices be hit?
As government wheat procurement has dipped, concerns are being raised about the stability of prices in the country.
The availability of grain for internal consumption, many agri-experts argue should be a priority.
The government has dismissed concerns about both prices and stocks, asserting that India is in a comfortable situation with the overall availability of grains.
India has enough stocks to meet the minimum requirement for next one year for meeting the requirement of welfare schemes.
How is the global supply situation shaping up?
In order to meet the gap created by reduced Russian and Ukrainian exports, importers are turning to alternative markets.
Wheat-producing countries like India are looking to increase exports.
Will farmers benefit?
Farmers will certainly benefit from the scenario as they are being offered a price above the MSP.
Amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, new markets in countries like Israel, Egypt, Tanzania and Mozambique have opened up for India.
However, if private traders continue to buy above MSP, eventually that could stoke inflation.
More private buying of wheat will help India expand the agri-export basket to new countries, riding the current crisis situation.
This trade relationship will stay even when the global crisis is over, which means farmers will get about 10%-15% extra price as market prices are ruling above MSP.
What about export plans?
After Egypt, Turkey has also given approval for the import of Indian wheat.
India has been eyeing deals with new export markets in European Union countries too.
Despite the crop loss and revision of the output estimate, the Centre maintained that no curbs would be placed on wheat exports and that it was facilitating traders.
This year the La Nina is being blamed for worsening the longest spell of heatwaves from March to April in north, west and Central India.
In most years, meteorologists considered the La Nina to be a friend of India.
What is El Nino and La Nina?
While El Niño (Spanish for ‘little boy’), the more common expression, is the abnormal surface warming observed along the eastern and central regions of the Pacific Ocean (the region between Peru and Papua New Guinea).
The La Niña (Spanish for ‘little girl’) is an abnormal cooling of these surface waters.
Together, the El Niño (Warm Phase) and La Niña (Cool Phase) phenomena are termed as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
These are large-scale ocean phenomena which influence the global weather — winds, temperature and rainfall. They have the ability to trigger extreme weather events like droughts, floods, hot and cold conditions, globally.
Each cycle can last anywhere between 9 to 12 months, at times extendable to 18 months — and re-occur after every three to five years.
Meteorologists record the sea surface temperatures for four different regions, known as Niño regions, along this equatorial belt.
Depending on the temperatures, they forecast either as an El Niño, an ENSO neutral phase, or a La Niña.
Impact on India
El Nino during winter causes warm conditions over the Indian subcontinent and during summer, it leads to dry conditions and deficient monsoon.
Whereas La Nina results in better than normal monsoon in India.
It has been established that Indian summer monsoon is a fully coupled land-atmosphere-ocean system and that it is linked to ocean temperature variability.
In an agricultural country like India, the extreme departure from normal seasonal rainfall seriously affects the agricultural output and thus the economy of the country.
Try this PYQ:
La Nina is suspected to have caused recent floods in Australia. How is La Nina different from El Nino?
La Nina is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperature in equatorial Indian Ocean whereas El Nino is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperature in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
El Nino has an adverse effect on south-west monsoon of India, but La Nina has no effect on monsoon climate.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
DNA samples collected from two human skeletons unearthed at a necropolis of a Harappan-era city site in Rakhigarhi, Haryana have been sent for scientific examination.
Why in news?
DNA analysis might tell about the ancestry and food habits of people who lived in the Rakhigarhi region thousands of years ago.
About Rakhi Garhi
The ancient site of Rakhi-Khas and Rakhi-Shahpur are collectively known as Rakhigarhi, located on the right bank of the now dried up Palaeo-channel of Drishadvati.
It is located in the Ghaggar-Hakra river plain in the Hissar district of Haryana.
Seven mounds are located here.
The site has yielded various stages of Harappan culture and is by far one of the largest Harappan sites in India.
The site shows the sequential development of the Indus culture in the now dried up Saraswati basin.
Major findings at Rakhi Garhi
Findings confirm both early and mature Harappan phases and include 4,600-year-old human skeletons, fortification and bricks.
Digging so far reveals a well-planned city with 1.92 m wide roads, a bit wider than in Kalibangan.
The pottery is similar to Kalibangan and Banawali.
Pits surrounded by walls have been found, which are thought to be for sacrificial or some religious ceremonies.
There are brick-lined drains to handle sewage from the houses.
Terracotta statues, weights, bronze artefacts, comb, copper fish hooks, needles and terracotta seals have also been found.
A bronze vessel has been found which is decorated with gold and silver.
A granary belonging to the mature Harappan phase has been found here.
Fire altars structures were revealed in Rakhigarhi.
Semiconductors are essential to almost all sectors of the economy including aerospace, automobiles, communications, clean energy, information technology and medical devices etc.
Demand for these critical components has outstripped supply, creating a global chip shortage and resulting in lost growth and jobs in the economy.
The shortage has exposed vulnerabilities in the semiconductor supply chain and highlighted the need for increasing domestic manufacturing capacity.
India is now aiming to become the global hub for Semiconductor Design, Manufacturing and Technology Development. In this article, we shall study all aspects of the issue and roadmap for India’s ambitious target.
What are Semiconductors?
A semiconductor sits between a conductor and an insulator and is commonly used in the development of electronic chips, computing components, and devices.
It’s generally created using silicon, germanium, or other pure elements.
Semiconductors are created by adding impurities to the element.
Why are they important?
Semiconductors such as memory, processors chips are a backbone and a prerequisite for any endeavours in emerging technologies.
From Artificial intelligence (AI) reliant smartphones to the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, or the automotive sector- nothing has been left untouched by the semiconductors.
Semiconductors or the chip is used to power technologies that enrich the lives of consumers and make businesses run smarter, faster, and more efficiently.
India’s own consumption of semiconductors is expected to cross $80 billion by 2026 and $110 billion by 2030.
Various chips and their uses
Memory Chips: From the perspective of functionality, semiconductor memory chips store data and programs on computers and data storage devices. Ex. RAM, ROM
Microprocessors: They contain one or more central processing units (CPUs). Computer servers, personal computers (PCs), tablets, and smartphones may each have multiple CPUs.
Graphic Processing Units (GPUs): It is capable of rendering graphics for display on an electronic device.
Integrated circuits (ICs): An IC is a small chip of a semiconductor material that mounts an entire circuit on itself. It is very small when compared to the standard circuits, which are made of independent circuit components.
Global semiconductors manufacturing: Understanding the value chain
The semiconductor industry is not evenly distributed and is dominated by a few countries, mainly U.S., Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, China, and Europe.
There is no single region with the entire production stack in its territory.
Companies across the semiconductor value chain operate in different processes and technologies (like design, fabrication, and assembly) in pursuit of economic efficiency.
However, no region has achieved strategic autonomyin the industry. The US companies rely on foundries in Taiwan to manufacture the chips.
Thus, the technological complexity and need for scale have led to the emergence of a large number of players with business models focused on a specific layer of the semiconductor value chain
Disruptions in the semiconductor market
Semiconductor manufacturing is a complex global intertwined ecosystem, which has led to a supply chain that is vulnerable to macroeconomics, geopolitics and natural disasters.
Demand hike: During COVID-19, with people stuck at home and with work from home becoming a norm, demand for consumer electronics such as laptops zoomed.
Global scramble: As the economies opened up, other industries, where chips are also used commonly, such as automobiles, began to scramble for the same raw material.
Production bottlenecks: As demand soared and the supply of semiconductor chips could not catch up, what was unheard of during the pre-pandemic times – a shortage of consumer durables and vehicles – ensued.
Supply-chain constraints: Palladium and neon are two resources that are key to the production of semiconductor chips. Russia supplies over 40 per cent of world’s palladium and Ukraine produces 70 percent of neon.
Geopolitical tensions: Taiwan accounts for 92% of advanced semiconductors. The current trade tensions between the US and China has impacted chip production in Taiwan.
Despite the current uncertainty, the semiconductor industry is poised for additional growth, as more and more products and services become increasingly digitized.
Various challenges
Huge Investments involved: Semiconductor Fabrication facility requires many expensive devices to function.Complex tools and equipment are required to test quality and move silicon from location to location within the ultra-clean confines of the plant.
Economy of scale: In semiconductor fabrication, a high volume production is required to be maintain so as to meet the increasing demand of the marketplace, at the same time, a strong financial backing as Indian market is very much uncertain about financial fluctuations.
Requirement highly skilled labour: Semiconductor fabrication is a multiple-step sequence of photolithographic and chemical processing steps during which electronic circuits are gradually created on a wafer made of pure semiconducting material. This actually requires high skills.
Scarcity of raw materials: From a value-chain perspective, it needs silicon, Germanium & Gallium arsenide and Silicon carbide which are not available in India and needs to be imported.
Uncertain Indian market: A semiconductor fabrication facility in India cannot independently rely on Indian customers for their entire sales structure. They have to maintain overseas customer base to balance inflections from Indian market due to market trends, government policies etc.
Disposal of hazardous waste: Many toxic materials are used in the fabrication process such as arsenic, antimony, and phosphorus. Hazardous impact on the environment by the industry may act as an impediment to India’s commitment to mitigate climate change.
Policy initiatives in India
Make in India: This aims to transform India into a global hub for Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM).
PLI scheme: In December 2021 the Centre sanctioned ₹76,000 crore under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to encourage the manufacturing of various semiconductor goods within India.
DLI scheme: It offers financial incentives, design infrastructure support across various stages of development and deployment of semiconductor design for Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, System on Chips (SoCs), Systems & IP Cores and semiconductor linked design.
Digital RISC-V (DIR-V) program: It intends to enable the production of microprocessors in India in the upcoming days achieving industry-grade silicon and design wins by December 2023.
India Semiconductor Mission (ISM): The vision is to build a vibrant semiconductor and display design and innovation ecosystem to enable India’s emergence as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design
Way forward
To ensure greater resilience in a volatile world, India needs to undertake following measures to sustain the domestic and global semiconductor demand:
Policy framework: As foundry setup is highly Capital intensive, it must be supported with a solid long term plan and financial backing. This backing is required from the entrepreneur & the government both.
Fiscal sustenance: In text of Indian Government as tax holiday, subsidy, zero duty, financial investment etc. will play an important role in promoting the Fab along with the semiconductor industry in India; this will put further pressure on already large Fiscal Deficit.
Support Infrastructure: World class, sustainable infrastructure, as required by a modern Fab be provided, with swift transportation, large quantity of pure water, uninterrupted electricity, communication, pollutant free environment etc.
Conclusion
Overall, setting up semiconductor production units would be just the beginning.
Successfully running them would require good quality public institutions and a stable policy environment.
Setting up a thriving ecosystem takes time and by the time the incentives get translated into actual production and revenues, it may be difficult to withdraw the financial support after six years, as currently planned.
In sum, as the policymakers are aware, a holistic approach to the development of the semiconductor industry would be required if we are to become a world-class hub that the latest policy envisages.
The central and state governments’ co-operation on the policy priorities and execution would be central to achieve it.
An out and out performer, Pooja Gupta has done it again. She has kept it simple and clean. As she mentions in the interview, her strategy revolved heavily around NCERTs, solving sufficient numbers of question papers and obtaining timely guidance.
She appeared in UPSC IAS exam twice and aced it on both the occasions. Going through the process of structuring upsc syllabus extensively, she recommends the NCERTs over other sources.
A recent trend in the evolution of jurisprudence around the death penalty in India may reset judicial thinking around sentencing and have long-term ramifications in the awarding of capital punishment.
New thinking in the jurisprudence around capital punishment
Capital punishment once delivered by the court of sessions (“sentencing court”) is required under law, specifically Chapter 28 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to be confirmed by the jurisdictional High Court (“confirming court”).
Over the last six months or so, while dealing with appeals against confirmation of the death sentence, the Supreme Court of India has examined sentencing methodology from the perspective of mitigating circumstances more closely.
The Court has also initiated a suo motu writ petition (criminal) to delve deep into these issues on key aspects surrounding our understanding of death penalty sentencing.
Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab (1980), the leading case on this point, calls for mitigating and aggravating circumstances to be balanced against each other and laid down the principle that the death penalty ought not to be awarded unless the alternative of life imprisonment is “unquestionably foreclosed”.
It is also an equally well-established legal principle that in a sentencing hearing, the accused must necessarily be provided with sufficient opportunity to produce any material that may have bearing on the sentencing exercise.
When read in conjunction with the ratio decidendi of the Bachan Singh case, it is incumbent upon the sentencing court and the confirming court to ensure that the question of reform and rehabilitation of a convicted person has been examined in detail for these courts to come to a definitive conclusion that all such options are unquestionably foreclosed.
Lack of judicial uniformity
A report by the National Law University Delhi’s Project 39A (earlier known as the “Centre on the Death Penalty”) titled ‘Matters of Judgment’ found that there is no judicial uniformity or consistency when it comes to awarding the death sentence.
In the report titled ‘Death Penalty Sentencing in Trial Courts’ (also authored by Project 39A), findings reported from a study of cases involving death sentencing between 2000 and 2015 in Delhi, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have showed that courts have been lax in assessing the aspect of reformation while undertaking the sentencing exercise.
The Court, in Mofil Khan vs State of Jharkhand (2021), held that the “the State is under a duty to procure evidence to establish that there is no possibility of reformation and rehabilitation of the accused.
Undoubtedly, the onus has been placed on the State to lead evidence to show that no reformation is possible and for the sentencing courts to be satisfied that a thorough mitigation analysis was done before the death sentence is awarded.
Mitigation investigation
For a complete mitigation investigation, professionals trained in psychology, sociology and criminology are required in addition to legal professionals.
Taking cognisance of the value of a holistic approach to mitigation investigation, the Court in Manoj & Ors vs State of Madhya Pradesh (2022) issued directions to the State to place before the court all “report(s) of all the probation officer(s)” relating to the accused and reports “about their conduct and nature of the work done by them” while in prison.
The order also directs that a trained psychiatrist and a local professor of psychology conduct a psychiatric and psychological evaluation of the convict.
Conclusion
The intervention of the Supreme Court of India in, hopefully, framing guidelines around incorporation of a mitigation analysis and consideration of psycho-social reports of the prisoner at the time of sentencing is timely and necessary.
The Supreme Court has referred to a Constitution Bench the battle between the Centre and the Delhi government for control over bureaucrats in the Capital.
What is a Constitution Bench?
The constitution bench is the name given to the benches of the Supreme Court of India.
The Chief Justice of India has the power to constitute a Constitution Bench and refer cases to it.
Constitution benches are set up when the following circumstances exist:
Interpretation of the Constitution: Article 145(3) provides for the constitution of at least five judges of the court which sit to decide any case “involving a substantial question of law as to the interpretation” of the Constitution of India.
President of India seeking SC’s opinion: When President has sought the Supreme Court’s opinion on a question of fact or law under Article 143 of the Constitution. Article 143 of the Constitution provides for Advisory jurisdiction to the SC. As per the provision, the President has the power to address questions to the apex Court, which he deems important for public welfare.
Conflicting Judgments: When two or more three-judge benches of the Supreme Court have delivered conflicting judgments on the same point of law, necessitating a definite understanding and interpretation of the law by a larger bench.
The Constitution benches are set up on ad hoc basis as and when the above-mentioned conditions exist.
Constitution benches have decided many of India’s best-known and most important Supreme Court cases, such as:
K. Gopalan v. State of Madras (Preventive detention)
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (Basic structure doctrine) and
Ashoka Kumar Thakur v. Union of India (OBC reservations) etc.
Why in news now?
A 2018 Constitution bench decision interpreting Article 239AA had not dealt with an aspect having a bearing on the dispute over services, CJI agreed.
The proceedings have their genesis in the Delhi HC judgment of August 4, 2017, whereby it held that for the purposes of administration, the L-G was not bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers in every matter.
On appeal, the SC on February 15, 2017, referred the matter to decide on the interpretation of Article 239AA.
What is the 2018 Judgment all about?
By a majority decision in July, 2018, the Constitution bench upheld the respective powers of the state Assembly and the Parliament.
It said that while the CoM must communicate all decisions to the L-G, this does not mean that the L-G’s concurrence is required.
In case of a difference of opinion, the L-G can refer it to the President for a decision.
The L-G has no independent decision-making power but has to either act on the ‘aid and advice’ of the CoM or is bound to implement the decision of the President on a reference being made.
The bench, which limited itself to the interpretation of Article 239AA, left individual issues to be decided by regular benches.
When power tussle began
Subsequently in 2019, a two-judge bench of the SC dealt with some individual issues arising from the power tussle between the Centre and the NCT government.
It ruled that the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government cannot investigate corruption cases against central government officials.
The power to appoint commissions under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, would be vested with the Centre and not the Delhi government, the judgment said.
Issue over control of administrative services
The judges, however, differed on who should have control over administrative services.
This was challenged again in the SC where the Centre contended that the two judges could not take a decision on the question.
The 2018 Constitution bench judgment had not interpreted the expression “insofar as any such matter as applicable to Union Territories” appearing in Article 239AA.
The Centre has urged SC CJI Ramana to refer the matter to a five-judge Constitution bench so that the question of law can be settled before the dispute over who has control over services can be looked into.
Back2Basics: Article 239AA
Article 239AA granted Special Status to Delhi among Union Territories (UTs) in the year 1991 through the 69th Constitutional Amendment.
It provided a Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers responsible to such Assembly with appropriate powers.
That’s when Delhi was named as the National Capital Region (NCT) of Delhi.
As per this article – Public Order, Police & Land in NCT of Delhi fall within the domain and control of Central Government which shall have the power to make laws on these matters.
For remaining matters of State List or Concurrent List, in so far as any such matter is applicable to UTs, the Legislative Assembly shall have the power to make laws for NCT of Delhi.
The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the average number of children per woman, has further declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level between National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 and 5.
What is NFHS?
The NFHS is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India.
The IIPS is the nodal agency, responsible for providing coordination and technical guidance for the NFHS.
NFHS was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with supplementary support from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The First National Family Health Survey (NFHS-1) was conducted in 1992-93.
Objectives of the NFHS
The survey provides state and national information for India on:
Fertility
Infant and child mortality
The practice of family planning
Maternal and child health
Reproductive health
Nutrition
Anaemia
Utilization and quality of health and family planning services
Modifications in NFHS 5
NFHS-5 includes new focal areas that will give requisite input for strengthening existing programmes and evolving new strategies for policy intervention. The areas are:
Expanded domains of child immunization
Components of micro-nutrients to children
Menstrual hygiene
Frequency of alcohol and tobacco use
Additional components of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
Expanded age ranges for measuring hypertension and diabetes among all aged 15 years and above.
Highlights of the NFHS 5 Part-II
(a) Fertility Rate
There are only five States — Bihar (2.98), Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) Manipur (2.17) —which are above replacement level of fertility of 2.1.
(b) Institutional Births
The institutional births increased from 79% to 89% across India and in rural areas around 87% births being delivered in institutions and the same is 94% in urban areas.
As per results of the NFHS-5, more than three-fourths (77%) children aged between 12 and 23 months were fully immunised, compared with 62% in NFHS-4.
The level of stunting among children under five years has marginally declined from 38% to 36% in the country since the last four years.
Stunting is higher among children in rural areas (37%) than urban areas (30%) in 2019-21.
(c) Decision making
The extent to which married women usually participate in three household decisions (about health care for herself; making major household purchases; visit to her family or relatives) indicates that their participation in decision-making is high, ranging from 80% in Ladakh to 99% in Nagaland and Mizoram.
Rural (77%) and urban (81%) differences are found to be marginal.
The prevalence of women having a bank or savings account has increased from 53% to 79% in the last four years.
(d) Rise in obesity
Compared with NFHS-4, the prevalence of overweight or obesity has increased in most States/UTs in NFHS-5.
At the national level, it increased from 21% to 24% among women and 19% to 23% among men.
More than a third of women in Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, AP, Goa, Sikkim, Manipur, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Punjab, Chandigarh and Lakshadweep (34-46 %) are overweight or obese.
The Punjab government recently announced Rs 1,500 incentive per acre for farmers opting for Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR), which is known for saving water.
What is DSR technique?
In transplanting, farmers prepare nurseries where the paddy seeds are first sown and raised into young plants.
These seedlings are then uprooted and replanted 25-35 days later in the main field.
Paddy seedlings are transplanted on fields that are “puddled” or tilled in standing water using tractor-drawn disc harrows.
In DSR, there is no nursery preparation or transplantation. The seeds are instead directly drilled into the field by a tractor-powered machine.
How much water is required to grow one kg rice?
Paddy is non-shelled rice that farmers grow and sell in mandis and then after milling paddy rice is prepared.
According to the studies, around 3,600 litres to 4,125 litres of water is required to grow one kg rice depending upon the paddy variety.
Long duration varieties consume more water.
In Punjab, 32% area is under the long duration (around 158 days) paddy varieties, and the rest comes under paddy varieties that take 120 to 140 days to grow.
So, on an average 3,900 to 4,000 litres water is required to grow one kg rice in the state.
How much water is used in Punjab every year to grow rice?
In 2020-21, Centre procured 203 lakh tonnes of paddy from Punjab.
After milling, this procured paddy resulted in 135.98 lakh tonnes of rice.
Since studies put average water required to produce one kg rice at 4,000 litres, so in one year – based on last year’s estimate – Punjab needed 5,400 billion litres of water to produce 135 lakh tonnes rice.
How much water can DSR help save?
DSR technique can help save 15% to 20% water.
In some cases, water saving can reach 22% to 23%.
With DSR, 15-18 irrigation rounds are required against 25 to 27 irrigation rounds in traditional method.
Since area under rice in Punjab is almost stagnant, DSR can save 810 to 1,080 billion litres water every year if entire rice crop is brought under the technique.
Are there any other benefits of DSR tech?
DSR can solve labour shortage problem because as like the traditional method it does not require a paddy nursery and transplantation of 30 days old paddy nursery into the main puddled field.
With DSR, paddy seeds are sown directly with machine.
DSR offers avenues for ground water recharge as it prevent the development of hard crust just beneath the plough layer due to puddled transplanting.
It matures 7-10 days earlier than puddle transplanted crop, therefore giving more time for management of paddy straw.
Research trials indicated that yield, after DSR, are one to two quintals per acre higher than puddled transplanted rice.
Getting optimum results
Experts said that with DSR technique, which is called ‘tar-wattar DSR’ (good soil moisture), farmers must sow paddy only after pre-sowing (rauni) irrigation and not in dry fields.
Further, the field should be laser levelled.
They said that spraying of herbicide must be done simultaneously along with sowing, and the first irrigation, which is done at 21 days after sowing.
Limitations of the DSR
Suitability of soil is the most important factor as farmers must not sow it in the light-textured soil.
This technique is suitable for medium to heavy textured soils including sandy loam, loam, clay loam, and silt loam which accounts for around 80% area of the state.
It should not be cultivated in sandy and loamy sand as these soils suffer from severe iron deficiency, and there is higher weed problem in it.
Also, avoid direct seeding of rice in fields which are under crops others than rice (like cotton, maize, sugarcane) in previous years as DSR in these soils is likely to suffer more from iron deficiency and weed problems.
