NL Journal of Agriculture and Biotechnology
(ISSN: 3048-9679)

---

Development of Climate-Resilient quality Rice Seeds through Integrated Soil– Plant Health Management under Net-Zero Production Systems in Eastern India

Author(s) : Ranjan Bera, Hasim Kamal Mallick, Anupam Datta, Chirasree Gangopadhyay, Susmita Saha, Purnima Halder, Sitesh Chatterjee*, Pradip Dey, Kaushik Mukhopadhyay, A. K Barik, Palash Mondal.
DOI : 10.71168/NAB.03.03.150

---

Abstract

Climate change poses a serious threat to global food security, particularly for rice-based production systems dominated by smallholder farmers. Seed quality is a foundational determinant of crop establishment, yield stability, and climate resilience. This study documents a farmer-participatory field experiment undertaken during 2022–23 in Nadia district, West Bengal, India, aimed at developing climate resilient, ‘Net Zero’ Paddy Seeds using Integrated plant and soil health management technology (based on Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology). The program integrated organic soil health management through waste bio converted compost with intensive plant health management protocols. Results indicated a significantly higher seed yield (4021 kg ha⁻¹) under the Net Zero Clean Seed system compared with conventional seed production (≈2850 kg ha⁻¹). Seed quality evaluation showed superior germination (92%), viability (98.4%), seed vigour indices, and markedly improved performance under water stress, salt stress, and accelerated ageing. A composite Climate Resilience Index (CRI), primarily derived from abiotic stress germination parameters, was 35.5% higher than conventional seeds. The treatment-wise carbon footprint assessment further indicated that the Net Zero Clean Paddy Seed system recorded a negative net carbon balance (−30.13 t CO₂ ha⁻¹) with a carbon footprint of −7.49 kg CO₂ kg⁻¹ grain, whereas conventional management showed positive emissions per unit grain produced. The same treatment also showed lower incidence of major insect pests and significantly reduced white ear formation (4.1%) compared to the conventional system (11.8%), indicating better crop performance under field conditions. The study establishes that climate resilient seed development requires an integrated focus on plant metabolic health in addition to soil fertility, offering a scalable pathway for safe, sustainable, and low carbon rice production. Keywords: Carbon footprint, Climate resilient seeds, Net Zero agriculture, Paddy; Seed Vigour, Integrated plant- soil health management, Organic seed systems, Sustainability.

This article licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License CC-BY 4.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.