a single season with a lower risk of severely reduced yields for either
As rainfall tends to be unstable In both frequency and intensity at crop. There are, however, two significant factors which limit the
the beginning of the wet season, the probability of poor Initial crop adoption of this technology:
stands combined with strong competition from weeds Is high. The type of
damage likely to be suffered depends upon the position of the field 1. A portipo of land must be set aside (not planted to a first
within the topographic sequence and the type or soil, For example, rice crop) for seedbed preparation.
paddy fields on side slopes or fields with light soils would be most
likely to receive insufficient moisture to support a dry seeded crop in 2. Labor must be available for transplanting when seedlings
its early stages, Dry seeded fields in the lower landscape positions, are mature and fields are prepared.
or with heavy soils which easily impound water, would be most susceptible to flooding damage should Initial rainfall be Intense or very The first factor is relevant mainly to the smallest farms. Part of
frequent, the income generated by a transplanted second crop must pay the cost of
the foregone opportunity of a first crop of rice growing on the seedbed
Acceptability to farmers. Interviews and discussions were held area. The second factor mentioned, that of transplanting labor availawith farmers trying DSR during the period of crop growth end subsequent bility, is probably Most significant. During the time when
to its harvest. Farmers who decided not to try DSR cited rainfall un- transplanting of the second crop should take place, rice crops on other
certainty and high expected weed growth as the main reason for their fields in the surrounding areas are being harvested.. The wage rate for
choice. Of the farmers that did try DSR, two said that they did not harvest labor (including threshing) Is based on a crop share, while tha
plan to repeat the technique the following year, due to poor yields transplanting wage is usually a fixed amount. The transplanting wage
caused by the previously mentioned conditions. A third farmer, who was met when mainly traditional varieties were being used, and few
established DSH on a very low landscape position, achieved good results alternative employment activities existed for transplanting labor. With
and Is planning to continue the practice in the future on the same the greatly Increased adoption of non-photoperiod sensitive varieties,
fields. opportunities for harvest labor are available throughout most of the
rice-growing season. The harvest wage varies with the yield of the
Examining the performance criteria stated at the beginning of this crop, generally in the same direction. That is, the higher the yield
paper, one finds DSH deficient on two points. First, It appears that per unit area, the higher the harvest wage per unit time. The analysis
the levels of handweeding labor and Cash for purchase of chemical Inputs of farm records has shown that harvest wage rates vary from roughly
that farmers Must have available in order to successfully utilize the equal to as much as four times the transplanting wage.2 Since many of
technology are higher than farmers are willing or able to allocate, the harvesters are landless laborers, their share of the harvest may be
Second, DSR Increases rather than reduces the effects of uncertainty on worth something closer to the retail price of rice than the wholesale or
the farm system. In order to achieve the potential benefits desirable farm gate price. If the rice earned Is used for consumption, then a
from DSR, the farmer Must subject himself to a higher probability of milling fee is the only additional cost, as they often transport the
yield loss due to flooding, drought stress and competition from weeds, rice themselves and have no marketing expenses to pay. Therefore, the
Finally, with respect to farmer acceptability, the adoption of DSR as a real harvest wage was as higHi as eight times the wage being offered for
crop establishment technique has been quite low, transplanting. This of course restricts the supply of labor for
transplanting during harvest time.
Existing Technology I Transplanting the second rice crop (TPH)
Contribution to household obiectives. Transplanting the second
One means of increasing the potential yield of a second rice crop rice crop allows farmers to increase their cropping intensity, thereby
following the harvest of an EN? is to transplant the succeeding crop Increasing food production and farm Income.
using mature (35-45 days-old) seedlings (IRRI, 1979). The second rice
crop, also an EH?, must be sown In seedbeds before the harvest of the Institutional requirements. Transplanting is a common farm
first crop and transplanted Into the main field once the previous crop practice which requires no new capital inputs from outside the system.
is harvested and the field has been prepared.., The transplanted crop Other requirements would be similar to those which would necessarily
will mature in about 75 days after the-date of transplanting (Figure 8). accompany the adoption of any new variety.
The probability of yield reduction due to drought stress is reduced as
the amount of time necessary for the crop to be in the field after
planing s sorteed.2These figures reflect valuation of the harvesters' crop share at Resource utilization. Transplanting the second rice crop with the farm gate price of rice.
35-40 day-old seedlings can enable farmers to harvest two rice crops In
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