FAO video from Tanzania: System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a rice farming technique that uses little water and good agricultural practices. SRI uses less, water, fewer seeds and produces higher yields. SRI benefits environmental conservation and increases farmers income.
[The FAO-assisted activities described in the video are connected to the EU-funded Multilateral Environmental Agreements in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP MEAs 3)]. Read more about the farmers in the project here.
The opening of the Jubilee Justice Specialty Foods and Rice Mill is the culmination of a successful rice experiment benefitting a collective of Black farmers from across the South. The project involved growing rice using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method.
Farming is hard and Black farmers have had a foot on their neck for a long time, said Konda Mason, founder and president of Jubilee Justice at a grand opening of the mill held Friday. The non-profit's mission is to help Black farmers become more self-sufficient through cooperative economics.
Recientemente viajé a Parral y San Carlos en las regiones de Ñuble y Maule de Chile, donde se produce el arroz del país. Tuvimos la oportunidad de visitar varios de los proyectos que el Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA) ha estado trabajando con el Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) para mejorar la sostenibilidad de la producción de arroz desde 2017.
Más de 200 agricultores, técnicos, investigadores y otras partes interesadas de la cadena de valor del arroz participaron en las jornadas de campo celebradas. Los socios han estado trabajando para validar y adaptar el Sistema de Intensificación del Arroz, o SRI (por sus siglas en inglés), durante siete temporadas de cultivo. Estos proyectos son financiados por los gobiernos regionales, la Fundación para la Innovación Agropecuaria (FIA) y FONTAGRO, que es un mecanismo de cofinanciamiento sostenible para el desarrollo de tecnología agrícola en América Latina y el Caribe.
This study was conducted to determine the effect of changing the depths of water and planting methods on soil properties and rice yields under alternate wetting and drying (AWD) in the Systems of Rice Intensification (SRI). The treatments consisted of four irrigation levels and four planting methods. The irrigation treatments included 4 water drop levels (WDL) in observation well: 6 cm, 10 cm, 14 cm water drop levels below the soil surface and continuous flooding with 5 cm layer of water above soil. Four planting methods included seed drilling, broadcasting, transplanting 12 day old seedlings, and transplanting 21 day-old seedlings. Lowland rice (FARO 44) was established in randomized complete block design. Alternate wetting and drying at 6 and 14 cm WDL showed 14.27 % and 11.59 % increase in total porosity respectively, when compared with initial soil total porosity. All plots showed a decrease in bulk density. Paddy yield for irrigation treatments ranged between 6.03-9.92 t ha-1, with AWD at 10 cm WDL having highest yield of 9.92 t ha-1, the lowest was observed in the continuously flooded plots (6.03t ha-1). System of rice intensification method was observed to yield 10.08 t ha-1 of paddy and showed percentage increases in paddy yields by 26.3%, 69.9% and 33.5% over conventional transplanting (21 day seedling), broadcasting and drilling, respectively. This study showed the superiority of using younger seedlings in transplanting and 10cm water drop level in the observation well for increased food security and income.
A video on implementation of the System of Rice Intensification in Iraq by Khidhir Abbas Hameed and staff of the Al-Mishkhab Rice Research Station in Najaf, Iraq. Farmer testimonies are included.
This article by Jen McCallum is published on the SRI-2030 blog. The year 2015 was a big one for the world. Global negotiations delivered both the Paris Agreement and the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in the same year. The recognition of climate change and its linkages to sustainable development were enshrined in official documentation providing the international community with a sustainable manifesto for transformation. Yet, despite almost eight years passing since then (it is now 2023), targets remain unmet and the prospects of reaching the goals by 2030 are rapidly dwindling.
In this article, we bring to light the multiple synergistic benefits the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) brings to sustainable development.
... Since the end of 2022 a total of eleven countries have chosen to include the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) as a mitigation or adaptation action in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
SRI is a practical and attractive option for rice producing countries to reduce the GHG emissions associated with rice cultivation and adapt to climate impacts. Rice cultivation is a significant source of methane emissions and is responsible for around 12% of global anthropogenic methane emissions - and around 1.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions. To put this in perspective, this puts rice cultivation not far behind the global aviation industry which accounts for around 2.1% of all anthropogenic GHG emissions. By reducing flooded fields and chemical inputs, SRI can reduce net GHG emissions by 50% or more per kg rice produced and methane emissions by up to 70%. On top of that, SRI improves a farmer’s climate resilience against droughts, storms and extreme weather all while helping to produce more rice from less.
SRI-Rice's insight:
This article appears on the blog of SRI-2030, which has now expanded its social media platforms substantially. Here's a link to all the ways you can access their information: https://linktr.ee/sri_2030. SRI-2030. SRI-2030 is an NGO dedicated to tackling emissions by upscaling SRI to 59M by 2030.
The official launch of the RICOWAS project « Scaling up climate-resilient rice production in West Africa », took place on January 18, 2023 in Bamako, Mali. The project is financed by the Adaptation Fund (AF) and implemented by the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) with the collaboration of the Regional Center of Specialization on Rice, hosted by the Institute of Rural Economy of Mali (CRS-Riz/IER), the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (WECARD) and the Cornell University, for a 14M USD budget over a 4-year period. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a major component of the project.
This is a presentation made by Febri Doni at the International Conference on System of Crop Intensification (SCI) in Hyderabad, India, December 12-14, 2023. The Indonesian SRI Network (IndoSRInet) has a newly revised website: https://indosrinet.org/. Check out what's going on with SRI in one of the largest countries (by population) in the world!
SRI-Rice's insight:
On Feb. 15, 2023, IndoSRInet (Indonesia's national SRI network), held an "open house" to welcome new members, plan upcoming activities, and review research findings. All SRI stakeholders are welcome. Contact the network https://indosrinet.org/ for more information. (Interesting to note that research on SRI has been published by over 50+ universities and several government agencies in Indonesia!)
For Vasantha Ganesan, a 32-year-old farmer at Ponnamaravathi taluk in the district, the third time was the charm as she was conferred the C Narayanaswamy Naidu Award by Chief Minister MK Stalin for achieving the highest yield of paddy through the System of Rice Intensification, during the Republic Day celebrations in Chennai on Thursday. Her parcel of land at Aalavayal returned a yield of 14,551.25 kg of paddy/hectare to claim the award that entails a cash award of Rs 5 lakh, besides a medal and a certificate.
A la demande de la coopérative Gouantina en début de campagne, la DreamTeam Douna piloté par Albert COMPAORE met en place un champ école de riziculture intensive dans l'optique de mieux enseigner les bonnes pratiques culturales de production de riz. La coopérative Gouantina est une coopérative composée de 65 femmes productrice de riz. Pour le champ école l'agent à terrain Albert à mis deux parcelles de 200m2. Sur la première parcelle les bonnes techniques de production du riz en système de riziculture intensive (SRI) ont été mise en place...
SRI-Rice's insight:
At the request of the Gouantina cooperative (made up of 65 women who produce rice) the "DreamTeam Douna" of the NGO PlantVillage set up a SRI field school for SRI. On a plot of 200m2 the traditional practice yielded 20kg (exptrapolated to 2t/ha) while the SRI plot yielded 35kg (extrapolated to 3.5t/ha). As they saw the profitability associated with SRI methods, the women in the cooperative decided to adopt the methods.
In Tanzania, social capital was a key contributor to the success of the implementation of System of Rice Intensification (SRI), as part of the activities the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT) implemented in the framework of the Farmers’ Organizations for Africa, Caribbean, and the Pacific Programme. Recently the adoption of this method has achieved exponential gains. As this experience illustrates, forging positive relations between farmers was a critical component.
The Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT) took great care in creating the conditions that would ensure as many people as possible could benefit from adopting SRI. One important aspect was the farmer-to-farmer approach. ACT implemented a participatory and inclusive approach. Participation was open to anyone interested and the farmer-to-farmer approach was adopted.
Arkansas farmer Adam Chappell talks about planting less seed for higher profitability.
This is a presentation given by Adam at an Arkansas Soil and Water Education Conference. He describes how he found and adapted SRI ideas to his field, starting with wider spacing and single seeds, which was ultimately more profitable for his farm.
The System of Rice Intensification (SRI), an agro-ecological approach to rice cultivation developed in Madagascar, has generated considerable interest worldwide. Having not been developed at a research establishment but rather from observation and testing on farmers’ fields, SRI attracted considerable controversy... The published literature provides abundant evidence that the earlier evaluations of SRI were either not well-informed or objective, and possibly, they discouraged others from embarking on systematic evaluations of their own.
This article examines the results of 78 studies in the published literature where SRI results were explicitly compared with RPs, including BMPs or FPs. The results from 27 countries, plus several large-scale evaluations, show that in 80% of the evaluations, grain yield was higher under SRI than with RPs or FPs. SRI gave 24% higher grain yield than RPs and 56% more than FPs, while reducing seed, water, and fertilizer inputs....This paper considers that the phenotypical changes and physiological improvements in SRI-grown rice plants could account for the reported enhancement in yield.
This study evaluated what intervals of irrigation in conjunction with the use of SRI methods could achieve the greatest economic, as well as agronomic returns when growing irrigated rice under the water-deficit conditions of southern Iraq. A field study at the Al-Mishkhab Rice Research Station in southern Iraq recorded input and output data for three different irrigation regimes: continuous submergence of the rice crop; irrigation at 3-day intervals; and irrigation at 7-day intervals. Benefit–cost analysis showed 3-day intervals with SRI methods, giving the highest net returns and highest internal rate of return, indicating that the continuous irrigation of rice fields is a waste of water, with neither agronomic nor economic benefit. In Iraq, there are large opportunity costs for any unnecessary use of irrigation water. The highest water productivity was achieved with 7-day intervals of irrigation together with SRI methods, but this entails some sacrifice of the yield ha−1, as 13% less grain is produced than with continuous submergence of the crop. With 7-day intervals compared to 3-day intervals, water-saving was 44%, but compared to continuous submergence of the crop, the saving was 72%. This large amount of water could, if redeployed, enable many more farmers to cultivate larger areas of the land, increasing total rice production for Iraq, a
🖐 Have you ever heard of Adan rice? It is the heirloom rice of the Lun Bawang people in Sarawak, Malaysia, and holds great value possibly as Sarawak’s best-kept culinary secret. Local farmers in Ba’ Kelalan are adopting best management practices by using a chemical-free farming method, called System of Rice Intensification (SRI). This SRI farming project started with 12 participating farmers in 2017, and the number has grown to 53 farmers in 2022.
Our primary health and environmental care begin from the farm. SRI provides a win-win situation for farmers and ecosystems. 👉 It increases paddy yield which brings income to the farmers. 👉 It reduces the need to open up more forests for rice cultivation. 👉 It reduces negative agricultural impacts on the environment by eliminating pesticide and chemical fertiliser uses.
ClimateRiceis a new group aiming to scale up the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) globally by a self-financing model using carbon credits. This initiative by Carbon Farm and the Cornell's Climate Resilient Farming Systems Program hopes to scale up SRI from 6.7 million hectares today to 55 million by 2033. Here's their method:
1) Provide training and support to farmers to adopt SRI
2) Use satellites to measure and verify the reduction in methane emissions
3) Issue and sell registry-certified carbon credits to companies striving to reach Net Zero emissions.
4) Use carbon credit sales to reward farmers and to train new farmers.
International Women's Day March 8, 2023 - Women’s Essential but All Too Invisible Role in the “Spirit of Rice” by Olivia Vent. Women provide 50-90% of labor in growing the world's rice crop.
....[In addition to other ways to support women] a modest investment would be to train more farmers on the principles and practices of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). With SRI methods, farmers can improve their yields by 50-100% and even more without agrochemicals or new seeds, and with less work and fewer health hazards for women. Rice fields are no longer kept continuously flooded, so women do not have to work in standing water. They have 80-90 percent fewer seedlings to sow in nurseries, uproot, transport, and transplant. And seedlings are not only fewer, but much younger and lighter to carry. SRI enables women to weed fields faster and in an upright posture not bent over for hours.
Since the seedlings are transplanted singly rather than in clumps, and in rows and not randomly, women can control weeds by using a simple mechanical weeder, pushing this between the rows in an upright position. This eliminates the need for backbreaking manual weeding and reducing also the time required. Sabarmatee measured that it takes women around 130-160 hours to weed an acre of rice by hand, moving at an average speed of 1 square meter per minute. Weeding with a mechanical weeder, on the other hand, takes 16-25 hours/acre. And since the weeder is considered a mechanical tool, men often take over this task because operating machines is culturally classified as ‘men’s work,’ so women are freed from this work. For women to benefit from this shift, however, farmers need to have access to weeders, and they should be designed to be suitable for women as well, otherwise new health problems can arise.
...SRI 2.0 is a set of adaptations of the original practices to be effective under different constraints or opportunities. The principles remain the same – rainfed SRI, direct-seeded SRI, mechanized SRI, etc. SRI 3.0 is the extension and adaptation of SRI ideas and principles to other crops – wheat, millet, sugarcane, mustard, etc. – in other words, the System of Crop Intensification. SRI 4.0 is the integration of SRI ideas into farming systems, going beyond monocropping. SRI 5.0 is the use of SRI beyond agricultural production like reducing GHG emissions, climate-proofing crops, improving women’s working conditions, increasing the nutritional quality, and other ‘externalities’. SRI 6.0 is the research to advance scientific understanding of how and why SRI works. (These versions are not sequential).
SRI has shown the prime importance of two factors: plant roots and the life in the soil. SRI seeks to elicit the genetic potentials to evoke better, more robust phenotypes from a given variety (genotype). In a changing climate, it will become important to grow crops with bigger root systems in soils that have greater abundance of beneficial soil organisms.
SRI-Rice's insight:
This paper accompanied Norman Uphoff's keynote address at the International Conference on the System of Crop Intensification for Climate-Smart Livelihoods and Nutritional Security (ICSCI22) that took place December 12-14, 2022, at ICAR, Hyderabad, India. [This paper, along with other lead speakers' presentations, is included in a special edition (vol. 15) of SARR's Journal of Rice Research:https://sarr.co.in/2023/02/05/volume-15-special-issue/]
The Plant-ness of the Plantis an interview with Erika Styger that appears in the February 2023 issue of ACRES USA magazine. It can also be accessed here: https://tinyurl.com/prebh7xw on Dr. Styger's Climate Resilient Farming Systems website.
The System of Rice/Crop Intensification utilizes simple principles to provide plants an ideal growing environment. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is an agronomic approach that was serendipitously discovered in Madagascar by a French priest and popularized by a university in New York, utilizing a discovery — made by Japanese scientists in the 1930s but, probably due to WWII, never translated into English — that follows the pattern in nature we now call the Fibonacci sequence. This is the unlikely and fascinating story of SRI — a set of principles that has enable increased profitability and improved yields for growers of rice and other crops across the world since the 1980s. It is only now beginning to be picked up among growers in industrialized nations like the United States.... https://tinyurl.com/prebh7xw
[Video] The global food system is responsible for between 20-30% of greenhouse gas emissions, most of which are generated at the production stage. Conventional rice production generates emissions equivalent to the entire global aviation industry. So how can we produce rice in a way that uses fewer resources and regenerates nature? A growing number of farmers around the world are changing the way they produce rice, by adopting an agroecological approach called the System of Rice Intensification (SRI).
Achieving Food Security while using water and land resources in a sustainable manner is a major challenge to any country. Agriculture’s success is therefore hinged on effectively using innovation to increase productivity and ensure profitability while managing natural resources. With this in mind, ARIFU, an educational technology company in conjunction with JKUAT’s Prof. Bancy Mati came up with a digital System of Rice Intensification (SRI) training app for rice farmers in Kenya. The app is an important source of information for the farmers on practices towards an increase in rice water productivity.
The ARIFU platform is an interactive chatbot that offers agronomic advice and financial skills training to farmers through mobile phones, giving them access to much-needed information. “This app will be accessible to anyone with a mobile phone and will be important in providing up-to-date information to farmers on the new and improved farming practices,” said Prof. Mati who also Chairperson of the Association of Irrigation Acceleration Platform (AIAP).
SRI-Rice's insight:
A longer account of the digital app, with insights on its success, can be found in Prof. Mati's extended post on the SRI-Rice website: tinyurl.com/3t97632c.
Sarvathobhadram-Organic–Farmers Cooperative is helpful in supporting small and marginal farmers in customizing, adapting, and tailoring the system to their specific requirements. The Farmers Club, which has 50 members, was founded in May 2020 to create additional cash while also encouraging farmers to shift to organic farming using System of Rice Intensification (SRI). The club’s mission is to ensure food security, livelihood, and entrepreneurship in the Anthikad Block Panchayat (Kerala). The project addressed climate change and resilience, collaborating with government departments and utilizing convergence to maximize the schemes accessible to farmers in panchayath.
SRI-Rice's insight:
This case study is a detailed account of the methods, constraints/solutions, and outcomes of an organic SRI project in Kerala.
Los agricultores de Ñuble buscan estrategias que den paso a prácticas más sustentables que se adapten a los requerimientos que conllevan los efectos del cambio climático. Desde esta necesidad, expertos realizan pruebas en la zona sur para instaurar como alternativa el Sistema de Intensificación del Cultivo de Arroz (SRI), el cual innova en la gestión de los recursos disminuyendo hasta en un 50% la huella hídrica para la producción de arroz climáticamente inteligente, aumentando competitividad de pequeños y medianos agricultores.
SRI, ejecutada por el Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias INIA Quilamapu, con el apoyo de la Fundación para la Innovación Agraria (FIA) y el financiamiento Gobierno Regional - trata de solucionar el principal desafío de la industria arrocera, la cual se ha visto amenazada por los efectos del cambio climático.
SRI-Rice's insight:
To address climate change-related water shortages, SRI is being tested Ñuble, Chile, by INIA Quilamapu Agricultural Research Institute, with the support of the Foundation for Agrarian Innovation (FIA) and funding from the Regional Government. SRI, which is reducing the water footprint for rice production in Chile by up to 50%, is expected to increase competitiveness of both small and medium farmers.
Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.
Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.
Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.
To get content containing either thought or leadership enter:
To get content containing both thought and leadership enter:
To get content containing the expression thought leadership enter:
You can enter several keywords and you can refine them whenever you want. Our suggestion engine uses more signals but entering a few keywords here will rapidly give you great content to curate.
Your new post is loading...
