Paira cropping system

About Paira cropping system:

• The utera/paira is a type of cropping which is commonly practiced in Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
• It is a kind of relay method of sowing in which lentil/ lathyrus/ urdbean/ mungbean seeds are broadcast in the standing crop of rice about 2 weeks before its harvest.
• This system does not allow agronomic intervention such as tillage, weeding, irrigation and fertilizer However, rice variety decides the productivity of pulses in this system.
• Advantages:
  • This practice enables us to use better soil moisture available at the time of harvesting of rice crops, which could otherwise be lost quickly.
  • Experimental evidence showed that paira cropping produced more yield of lentil than planting with tillage after harvesting of the rice crop.
  • This is an efficient way of utilising resources for sustainable crop intensification and boosting land productivity.

What is the Relay cropping method?

• It is a method of multiple cropping where one crop is seeded into standing second crop well before harvesting of second crop.
• It can solve a number of conflicts such as inefficient use of available resources, controversies in sowing time, fertilizer application and soil degradation.