Boro Rice in Eastern India - A Case Study of North Eastern Alluvial Plains of Bihar

Abstract

Boro rice cultivation is relatively a new phenomenon in Bihar agriculture, where rice is being grown since time immemorial, during both kharif and rabi seasons. The cultivation of rice during rabi crop season (Nov.-May) was unknown probably till the new rice strains through Bangladesh refugees were introduced in these parts of India. “Boro” a Bengali term derives its name from the Sanskrit word 'Borob' and refers to a special type of rice cultivation in lowlands during November-May months. Boro rice has traditionally been cultivated in the river basins, deltas, chaurs or saucer shaped depressions, where water accumulates during the monsoons but cannot be drained, thus providing ideal settings for boro rice cultivation during winter season. Although, boro rice cultivation has been an old practice in deep water areas, it is only recently that it has emerged as a major break through in enhancing rice productivity, not only in traditional, but also in non-traditional boro rice areas with assured irrigation and modern inputs. The credit primarily goes to the farmers’ own initiatives in adopting its cultivation in a big way. But proper research inputs have not been fully exploited by the farmers. It is therefore worthwhile to examine the current scenario and analyze the future concerns. Boro rice has come as a boon to the farmers of this region, but it has become popular only recently with the introduction of cold tolerant rice varieties. Boro rice produces more yields than the kharif rice in the same ecology. In fact, the yields recorded from experiments, both at research station and at farmers fields show that yields from boro rice are manifolds compared to kharif rice. 'Gautam' one of the recently released varieties, from Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur) have recorded yields between 8-10 t/ha. Little information is available about the impact of boro rice cultivation in Bihar, its role in improving rural economy in general and the farmers’ economic condition in particular. Available literature suggests about the tremendous potential of boro rice cultivation in enhancing the production and productivity of food crops. Adoption of this new technology has been difficult for resource poor farmers of these regions. . Agronomic practices followed by the farmers varied from farm to farm but it was observed that in general the farmers followed most of the recommended practices. The high water requirement of the crop was met with a local innovation called “bamboo boring” which served as the chief source of irrigation during the months of April-May when there was a scarcity of surface water in the region and farmers had to use round water sources , this led to the higher cost to be spend on fuel etc. by the farmers. The study strengthened the belief that farmers are better innovators and a little support to them in terms of research and infrastructure could lead to even better results.Labor-use is another important aspect in boro rice as the crop is highly labor intensive. The findings showed that land preparation, transplanting along with irrigation and harvesting utilized more than 80 percent of total labor used. The factor –wise cost of cultivation was lowest on marginal farms and highest on small farms, whereas the returns per hectare were highest on small farms and lowest on large farms clearly indicating that farm size did not have any positive correlation with the from boro rice cultivation. The marketed quantity was lowest on marginal farms and highest on large farms as the marginal farmers consumed most of what they produced owing to their poor resource-base and lower income. Large farmers on the other hand had alternative sources of income so they were in a better position to market their produce at their own convenience. Overall boro rice was a profitable crop on all size group of farms and promises to bring new revolution in production of food crops in Bihar.