Question

A farmer is facing lots of losses in his paddy field. He has tall varieties of paddy in his field and this field is located in a heavy windy area. Study the situation of the farmer. How can he overcome this problem and make his farm economically viable?

• A. Using more fertilizers
• B. Using tall, high yielding variety of rice
• C. Using semi-dwarf rice varieties
• D. Using modern irrigation systems to pump more water to the field

Answer 1

The correct option is C Using semi-dwarf rice varieties

Semi-dwarf varieties with shorter and stronger stalks, have lesser chances of falling over in the wind or if the grain head gets heavy. The grain heads that touch the ground make it unusable as paddy fields are required to be watered heavily.
Additionally, semi-dwarf varieties also takes less time to grow to the height needed to produce grain. The shorter, tougher stalk can be harvested by heavy machinery, making the harvesting less labor intensive. Hence, the farmer should grow semi-dwarf varieties of paddy rather than the tall variety.

Using modern irrigation systems to pump more water to the field, using tall high yielding varieties of rice or using more fertilizers will not solve his problems as his losses in the paddy field is related to the location of the field (very windy area).