Alternate Wet and Dry methods (AWD)

Alternate Wet and Dry is a farming practice that follows alternate wetting and drying methods to cultivate paddy in lowlands intended to optimally use water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Few of the Indian states including Telangana and Punjab, have adopted AWD cultivation for paddy.

Suitable Locations for Implementation of AWD

Generally, AWD is suitable for cultivating paddy in lowlands where soils can be drained at 5-day intervals. This wetting method prevents the field from drying during the rice-growing period.

Benefits of AWD Adoption

• As per IPCC 2006, Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories estimate a 48% reduction in methane emissions from Alternate Wet and Dry methods.
• This method reduces 30-85% of other greenhouse gases from paddy fields.
• Alternate wetting and moderate soil drying reduce heavy metals like Cadmium, Arsenic and Lead accumulations in paddy grains, which are toxic and known human carcinogens.
• It also minimizes the time, labor, and production costs of an irrigation system.

Challenges in Implementing AWD

• AWD methods can enhance the concentration of nitrous oxide and soil salinity.
• The weed management process is negatively affected due to the low drainage process.

SwitchON’s Interventions:

• West Bengal is the top ranking state in the country in paddy cultivation and paddy cultivation is one of the major contributors to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Understanding the importance of GHG emissions in controlling global climate change and to conserve the rapidly depleting finite groundwater resources used extensively for flooded paddy irrigation, SwitchON Foundation (Environment Conservation Society) has initiated a new initiative,  of cultivating paddy following Alternate Wet and Dry irrigation method. Under the guidance of SwitchON Foundation, 102 farmers in six districts (Bankura, Purulia, Hooghly, Nadia, Purba Medinipur and Purba Badhaman) of West Bengal have started Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) paddy cultivation in 163.08 Acres of land covering 56 villages.

• This move has also extended to the states of Odisha and Jharkhand, where cultivation has started on a trial basis. In Odisha, SwitchON has launched the AWD drive in agriculturally predominant paddy-growing district, Balangir involving 13 farmers who are adopting AWD in 6 villages, covering 36 Acres of land.

Similarly, in Jharkhand, the Foundation has been successful in initiating AWD paddy cultivation in Pakur and Bokaro districts, with the participation of 80 farmers across 50 acres distributed among 3 villages.