CropsDirect Seeded Rice (DSR): Sowing to Harvest, Day by Day
Grow paddy without puddling or transplanting. Soil check, tar-wattar sowing, weed control, first irrigation at 21 days and common DSR mistakes, per PAU.
Vaibhav Dhama10 min read
Vaibhav Dhama
Founder, Technical Kisan
Vaibhav Dhama is the founder of Technical Kisan. He writes from Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, and builds each guide on ICAR and state agricultural university guidance, official government scheme notifications, and live mandi-price data.
- Writes from Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh
- Software developer (BTech, 2021)
- Not a trained agronomist — confirm with your KVK
I'm from Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh — the sugarcane and wheat belt of western UP. I started Technical Kisan because most Hindi farming information online is generic and disconnected from what actually happens in the field. What I publish here is built on ICAR and state agricultural university guidance, official government sources, and live mandi-price data — and I'm working to bring in more on-the-ground detail from around Baghpat itself as I go.
By profession I'm a software developer (BTech, 2021). I do not hold a formal degree in agriculture. The information here comes from state agriculture department sources and published ICAR and state agricultural university guidance. Before making major decisions about seed, fertiliser, or crop protection, please consult your nearest KVK or agriculture officer.
75 guides
Written by Vaibhav Dhama
Crops
Central Government SchemesHow to Form or Join an FPO: Routes, Rules and Real Support
Thinking of starting a Farmer Producer Organisation? Member minimums, legal forms, equity grant, credit guarantee and honest limits, from official guidelines.
Vaibhav Dhama8 min read
CropsOyster Mushroom at Home: One Batch from Straw to Harvest
Start oyster (dhingri) mushroom farming in a spare room: straw treatment, bagging, spawn run, fruiting, picking and selling, with ICAR trial figures.
Vaibhav Dhama9 min read
IrrigationPM-KUSUM Solar Pump Subsidy: Who Gets It and What You Pay
PM-KUSUM solar pump subsidy explained: who qualifies, the 30%+30%+40% split, bank finance, documents, and what to check with your state agency first.
Vaibhav Dhama8 min read
Central Government SchemesPMFBY Claim: What to Do After Crop Loss, Hour by Hour
Hail, flood or rain damaged your insured crop? Follow the PMFBY claim steps: the 72-hour report, what the surveyor does, payment timelines and appeals.
Vaibhav Dhama9 min read
Farming TechniquesDrought Farming: How to Save Your Crop with Less Water
When monsoon fails or rain stops mid-season, these practical drought management steps — mulching, deficit irrigation and crop switching — protect yield.
Vaibhav Dhama7 min read
CropsFall Armyworm in Maize: Identify and Stop It Early
Fall armyworm destroys maize, bajra and paddy overnight. Learn to identify the larvae early, set pheromone traps, and apply the right IPM spray schedule.
Vaibhav Dhama7 min read
Farming TechniquesSoil Testing and Micronutrient Deficiency: A Farmer Guide
Half of Indian soils lack zinc, 59% lack sulphur, and 64% are low in nitrogen. Read your soil health card, spot deficiency symptoms, apply the right fix.
Vaibhav Dhama9 min read
CropsMoringa Powder Production: From Leaves to Market
How to turn moringa leaves into export-grade powder: the right harvest stage, shade-drying, grinding, and where the leaf-powder market actually pays.
Vaibhav Dhama6 min read
Organic FarmingMicrogreen Farming: Growing It at Home
Microgreens explained simply - how they differ from sprouts, what a home tray setup needs, easy varieties, and first-batch mistakes.
Vaibhav Dhama6 min read
Organic FarmingHow to Start Organic Farming: Step by Step
A starting sequence for organic farming in India - which plot to pick, building soil first, what to grow while converting, and certification.
Vaibhav Dhama5 min read
IrrigationKisan Raja Samrat Motor Controller Review
One of the oldest GSM motor controllers in India - call your pump on or off from anywhere. What it does, its price, and what to check.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
Central Government SchemesAgricultural Land Purchase Checklist
A clean sale deed is not proof of a clean title. The record, physical and legal checks to run before you pay any advance on farmland.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
Central Government SchemesAgricultural Loan Eligibility Explained
Farm loans are easier to get than personal credit, thanks to priority-sector lending. What a bank actually checks before it lends.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
CropsCrop Protection During Heavy Rain
Waterlogged roots suffocate within a day or two, and fungal disease follows fast. What to do in the first 48 hours after a downpour.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Central Government SchemesFarm Boundary Survey: Official Demarcation
Boundary disputes start with an old map and a missing stone marker, not bad intent. How official demarcation of your plot actually works.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
CropsFarm Budget Planning Before You Sow
Most cash-flow trouble is not a bad season - it's a good one with no budget, where borrowing gets decided crop by crop instead of upfront.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
CropsFarm Record Keeping: A Habit That Pays
A land record proves you own the field. A farm record proves what happened on it - the document a bank or insurer will eventually ask for.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
FertilizersFertiliser Timing: Why Rules Differ
Nitrogen leaches, phosphorus barely moves, potash sits between the two - why one timing rule can never fit all nutrients equally.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Central Government SchemesFinancial Planning for Farmers
A season budget asks if this crop will pay. Financial planning asks the bigger question - what the farm looks like in ten years.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Central Government SchemesGovernment Farm Loan Schemes Beyond KCC
KCC covers the crop season. For a solar pump, cold store or dairy unit, separate government loan schemes exist, each with its own terms.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
CropsHarvest and Storage: Timing and Handling
Harvest too early and grain never fills; too late and it shatters or lodges. The narrow window that decides if the season pays off.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Central Government SchemesHow to Measure Farm Land Accurately
A bigha in UP is not a bigha in Rajasthan, and pace-counting is not a survey. What your land record measures in, and how to convert it.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingHow to Sell Organic Produce at a Premium
Sell certified organic through a regular mandi and it prices like conventional - the premium only exists in channels built to recognise it.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Central Government SchemesHow to Improve Farm Cash Flow
The gap between input costs going out and harvest revenue coming in is where farm financial stress lives. Three ways to shrink that gap.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
CropsImprove Wheat Profitability: What Matters
Two wheat farmers with identical land and MSP can still end with very different profit - decided by sowing date, nitrogen and irrigation timing.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
CropsMonsoon Farming: What Changes With Rain
The monsoon rewrites sowing timing, weed pressure, disease risk and fertiliser loss all at once. What to plan for before the first spell.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Organic FarmingOrganic Farming: Benefits and Challenges
Organic farming genuinely rebuilds soil and commands a premium - and genuinely costs yield during conversion and needs more labour. Both true.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
CropsPost-Harvest Storage Tips That Work
Grain stored too damp, uncleaned or on bare ground is already partway to spoiled. Most storage loss is decided in the first week after harvest.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
IrrigationRainwater Management: Capture the Monsoon
Most farms already get enough rain to cut irrigation costs sharply - it's simply not captured. A farm pond, bunding and mulching fix that.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
CropsReduce Cost of Cultivation, Not Yield
The biggest savings rarely come from buying less - they come from not wasting what you already bought: fertiliser, seed, and diesel timing.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
CropsSafe Pesticide Spraying Practices
The pesticide label is a legal instruction, not a suggestion. Most spraying injuries trace back to skipping what the label already said.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
CropsSelling Crops at APMC Mandis: Your Rights
Weighment, quality assay, open auction, a signed receipt - every step an APMC transaction skips is a step where a farmer gets underpaid.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Central Government SchemesTypes of Agricultural Land in India
Agricultural or not, irrigated or not, cultivable or fallow - the label in your Khasra decides your tax, scheme eligibility and building rights.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
Central Government SchemesUnderstanding Indian Land Records
Every scheme payment, loan and land sale traces to one document - the Record of Rights, named differently in each state. Where to check yours.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
CropsUnderstanding MSP: How It Works
MSP is announced for 23 crops each season, but real procurement is mostly wheat and paddy in a few states. How the price is set, and how to sell.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
LivestockBest Fish Species for Biofloc Farming
Biofloc packs 3-5x more fish per pond by turning tank waste into feed - but only species that thrive in dense, active water. What works.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
LivestockBroiler vs Layer: Two Poultry Businesses
Broiler is a 5-6 week bet on feed conversion; layer is a year-long bet on egg output. How to pick the right one for your cash flow.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
LivestockChoosing the Best Dairy Cow Breed
HF gives the most milk on paper, but the breed that pays is the one your feed and water can support. HF, Jersey, Sahiwal and Gir compared.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
LivestockReduce Animal Feed Cost, Not Output
Feed is 65-70% of the cost of milk - so the fastest way to raise margin is a better ration, not a better breed. Six practical levers.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
LivestockStarting Goat Farming: A First-Year Plan
Low capital, low land, and a doe that kids every 8 months - goat farming compounds fast. First-unit cost, breed to pick, and the top risk.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
LivestockVaccination Schedule for Dairy Cattle
FMD twice a year, HS and BQ before monsoon, Brucellosis once as a calf - the four vaccines that matter, and why skipping one costs more.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingBeejamrit: Natural Seed Treatment Guide
Beejamrit coats seed in cow dung, urine and lime to block soil- and seed-borne disease. The recipe, method, and its real limits.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingBone Meal: Slow Phosphorus for Fruit Crops
Crushed, steamed bone gives a slow-release organic phosphorus and calcium, best for fruit, flower and root crops. How to apply it.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Organic FarmingCow Urine Spray: Repellent, Foliar Tonic
Diluted cow urine is a cheap foliar spray used as a mild pest repellent and nutrient tonic in natural farming. How to dilute and use it.
Vaibhav Dhama1 min read
Organic FarmingGarlic-Chilli Spray: A Home-Made Repellent
A garlic and chilli extract is a cheap kitchen repellent, effective against aphids and small caterpillars. The recipe and how to test it.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Organic FarmingMustard Cake: Fast Organic Nitrogen
The residue left after pressing mustard oil is a fast-acting nitrogen source for vegetables. How to apply it dry or ferment it as foliar feed.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Organic FarmingNADEP Compost: Brick Tank Method
NADEP makes large volumes of compost from crop residue and little dung, in a brick tank with air holes. How it's built, layered and filled.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Organic FarmingNeem Cake: Slow Nitrogen, Fights Nematodes
What's left after pressing neem oil feeds crops slowly and suppresses root-knot nematodes. How much to use, when, and why it works twice over.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Organic FarmingPheromone Traps: Monitor and Mass-Trap
A scent lure draws male moths in - to signal a rising pest, or mass-trap enough to cut the next generation. How many to use, and their limits.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Organic FarmingTrichoderma: Guarding the Root Zone
A beneficial fungus that colonises roots and out-competes soil disease - used as seed treatment, soil application, or root dip. The one mistake.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Organic FarmingWood Ash: Free Potash — Used Carefully
Wood ash from a clean fire is a free source of potash and calcium, a pest dust, and a grain-storage protectant - but it raises soil pH.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Organic FarmingYellow Sticky Traps for Whitefly
A glue-coated yellow card draws in whitefly, aphids and leaf miner - for monitoring and trapping. Why yellow works, and how to place them.
Vaibhav Dhama2 min read
Organic FarmingBiofertilisers: Rhizobium, PSB and More
Living microbe cultures that fix nitrogen and unlock phosphorus for a few rupees a packet - if matched to the crop and kept alive.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingGreen Manure: Dhaincha and Sunhemp
A green manure crop ploughed back into soil is the cheapest nitrogen an organic farm can get. When to sow, incorporate, and what it's worth.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingJeevamrit: How to Make and Use It
A fermented culture of cow dung, urine, jaggery and gram flour that inoculates soil with microbes cheaply. The recipe and how to apply it.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingNeem Oil Spray: Mixing It So It Works
Most failed neem sprays fail for the same three reasons - no emulsifier, wrong concentration, midday sun. How to mix and time it right.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingOrganic Fertilisers: What Replaces Urea
Going organic means giving up urea, not nitrogen. What replaces it: FYM, compost, vermicompost, oil cakes, biofertilisers, and green manure.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
Organic FarmingOrganic Potato: Managing Blight Naturally
Potato is a heavy feeder and late blight can take it in ten days. The game is prevention: healthy seed, resistant varieties, and copper defence.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingOrganic Rice with the SRI Method
Organic rice and SRI fit naturally - wide spacing and intermittent wetting cut inputs, while organic fertility feeds the soil biology SRI needs.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingOrganic Tomato: No Pesticide, No Problem
Tomato is high-value and heavily attacked by borer and leaf curl. Organically, it leans on staking, traps, neem and biological agents.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingOrganic Weed Management Without Herbicide
No herbicide is allowed in organic farming, so weeds must be beaten by method, not chemistry: mulch, stale seedbeds, timely inter-culture.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingOrganic Wheat: A Cultivation Guide
Wheat is easier to grow organically - a light feeder with few serious pests. Front-load fertility with FYM and hold the November sowing window.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
Organic FarmingPanchagavya: Recipe and How to Use It
A fermented tonic of five cow products used as a foliar growth promoter. The recipe, three-week fermentation, dilution, and honest limits.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
IrrigationDrip Irrigation: Cost, Subsidy, Payback
Drip cuts water use 40-60% and lifts yield 20-50%. With PMKSY subsidy at 55%, the real question is which crops pay it back fastest.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
Agri TechnologyDrone Spraying: Hire It, Don't Buy It
A spray drone covers an acre in 8 minutes on a tenth of the water. At Rs 6-10 lakh, the maths only works past about 50 acres.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
Central Government SchemesKisan Credit Card: Why 7% Is Really 4%
KCC is the cheapest farm loan - but only if repaid within the year. Miss that date and the rate you actually pay nearly doubles.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read
CropsOnion Storage: Stop Losing 40% in the Shed
Onion margins are made in the shed, not the field. Proper curing and ventilated storage is the difference between low and high-season prices.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
Central Government SchemesPM-KISAN Instalment Not Received? Why
Almost every failed PM-KISAN payment traces to one of four fixable problems - e-KYC, land seeding, an Aadhaar mismatch, or ineligibility.
Vaibhav Dhama5 min read
SeedsSeed Treatment: Rs 40 an Acre, Skipped
Forty rupees of fungicide protects an acre against soil-borne disease no later spray can fix - the highest return on an Indian farm.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
CropsTomato Leaf Curl: Stop Spraying, Prevent
There is no cure once a plant has leaf curl. Everything that works is prevention - whitefly control, barrier crops, and early roguing.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
FertilizersYou're Losing a Third of Your Urea
Broadcast urea on dry soil and 30-40% of the nitrogen is gone within days. Splitting the dose on moist soil is the cheapest yield gain there is.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
Organic FarmingVermicompost: A Six-Bed Unit's Numbers
A six-bed vermicompost unit costs about Rs 34,000 after subsidy and turns waste into a saleable product. Cost sheet, revenue, and what decides it.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
CropsWheat Sowing: Why November Matters
Sowing date is the single biggest lever on wheat yield in North India - bigger than variety or fertiliser. What late sowing costs you.
Vaibhav Dhama4 min read
Farming TechniquesZero Tillage: Sow Wheat Without Burning
A zero-till drill saves Rs 3,000/hectare, 50 litres of diesel and lets you sow 7-10 days earlier. The one thing it demands: stop ploughing.
Vaibhav Dhama3 min read