BADHAIYATAL, NEPAL – In 2023, Jagdish Tharus Farm produced three times more rice than expected. At a time of dry springs and persistent drought in this agricultural area, this success surprised Tharu – and his neighbors too.
Seeing tall weeds growing in the fields, they predicted that Tharu’s field would produce at most 12 hundredweight (1.3 tons). Instead, the yield was 32 hundredweight (3.5 tons).
It wasn’t Tharu’s best return ever, but it didn’t hurt his wallet or his back. He didn’t have to hire the 30 or so workers he normally needed to work his fields. And the work was easier, he says, even though he did it by hand, alone.
This is all due to a rice farming technique called no-till rice method, which is slowly gaining popularity in China, India, the United States and some parts of Europe and Africa.
The technique, called Chharuwa Dhaan Kheti in Nepal, involves planting rice seeds directly in the field – skipping the labor-intensive process of growing seedlings in nurseries and later transplanting them to fields. Compared to conventional rice farming, no-till uses 12 to 35% less water, reduces labor costs and brings the crop to harvest seven to 10 days earlier, according to a 2022 article published in the journal Circular Economy and Sustainability .
No-till farming is a climate adaptation success story. Traditional rice farming requires an average of 2,500 liters of water to produce 1 kilogram of rice (about 660 gallons for just over 2 pounds) – a huge amount given global water shortages and local droughts. No-till farming, on the other hand, replenishes groundwater, reduces soil erosion and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
“It is a smart technology to adapt to climate change,” says Sachin Kumar Mishra, head of the Agricultural Equipment Research Station in Ranighat, Parsa district, Madhesh province.
And if people want to continue eating rice, they need to adopt the no-till rice method, he says.
“Otherwise the land will remain barren because there will be a major water problem in the next few days,” he added.
Rice is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population and feeds over 3.5 billion people, particularly in Asia, Latin America and parts of Africa. In Nepal it is the most important food crop. As the country faces extended periods of drought due to climate change, the need for water-efficient farming methods such as no-till farming is growing.
There is a lot at stake. Around 67% of Nepal’s population depends on agriculture, and the sector accounts for about a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product. The country has already suffered significant losses from climate-related events between 1972 and 2016.
The International Rice Research Institute, a non-profit organization that researches the development of the global rice sector, is promoting the no-till rice method in the Terai regions of Nepal. The Nepalese government also recommends rice varieties that can withstand the effects of climate change, particularly drought and floods.
Some of these acclimatized rice varieties as well as the no-till rice method are slowly gaining popularity among farmers in Bardiya district.
Ramchandra Yadav has planted paddy fields using this technique for seven consecutive years. Rice is extremely sensitive to drought conditions during germination and early seedling growth stages. During periods of drought, traditional farming is not possible. This year, as an experiment, Yadav sowed rice for the first time during a drought using the no-till rice technique.
“It was like a gamble,” he says. But when the drought passed and it rained, the rice grew well in his fields.
No-till is not without its challenges. Increasing weed infestation is the biggest bottleneck, especially in dry field conditions. Controlling weeds requires specialized tools that many farmers do not have access to.
“Currently, the equipment to plant paddy and remove weeds is not available even if farmers want it,” says Mishra of the Agriculture Implements Research Station, adding that even the tools available are expensive for farmers to purchase are.
But the advantages are obvious.
Over a period of seven years, from 2011 to 2017, a series of experiments were conducted in the western Terai region of Nepal to measure and refine the performance of the no-till rice method. No-till resulted in higher grain yields with lower overall production costs, as well as higher water productivity and net profit compared to traditional methods.
Tharu says when he used standard methods, the water level was too low for even three running machines to extract it from underground, and working methods were high.
It took 10 farmers to collect the seeds and 20 more to plant them, he says.
“In addition, farmers had to be provided an additional 700 rupees (about US$5.25) per day per feed,” says Tharu. Finding workers is becoming more difficult every year as many people leave agriculture or go abroad to find better opportunities.
Tharu wants to continue growing rice on his own land next year using the no-till rice method and hopes to get better yields every year. Six other farmers from Tharu’s village joined him in using the technique this year.
Ashish Bhattarai, a 31-year-old farmer in Badhaiyatal, says his generation is not usually interested in farming. “Everyone has a low regard for farmers,” he says.
But he quit his job in human resources to sow rice on 19.5 bighas of land (almost 33 acres) – the largest area in his village.
“People think wheat is easy to grow, but rice is difficult to grow,” he says.
The no-till rice method is changing this perception, he says, pointing to the future of rice farming.