DSR method of paddy growing: Benefits and controversies surrounding it

Direct seeding of rice is a cultivation method where paddy seeds are planted directly into the soil, eliminating the need for nursery growth and transplanting, which require fully watered conditions

Direct Seeding of Rice, or the DSR method of rice cultivation, has been in vogue for many decades now. But, in recent years, it has come to acquire added importance given the falling water tables in major paddy-growing northern states of Punjab and Haryana and uncertainties surrounding the southwest monsoon.

The narrowing gap between paddy harvest and wheat sowing, which is blamed for being one of the prime reasons for stubble burning in North India, is also why the DSR method of rice cultivation has caught the imagination of policymakers and academicians alike. As some studies show, rice grown through this