SRI Global News: February - April 2024 **sririce -- System of Rice Intensification

At a time when farmers  are feeling marginalised, many unable to meet the rising costs of seeds and fertilisers, and weighed down by loans they are unable to pay back, farmers from Chittaura block of Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, with help from the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), are upbeat. Their fields are lush green with vegetables and golden brown with the ripened and harvested wheat.

Using System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and System of Wheat Intensification (SWI), yields of both crops have increased 50 to 100 per cent; additional income has come from high value vegetables.

[This article has been made open-access by SRI-Rice] "The ideas and methods of the system of rice intensification which is improving irrigated rice production are now being extended/adapted to many other crops: wheat, maize, finger millet, sugarcane, tef, mustard, legumes, vegetables, and even spices. Promoting better root growth and enhancing the soil’s fertility with organic materials are being found effective means for raising the yields of many crop plants with less water, less fertilizer, reduced seeds, fewer agrochemicals, and greater climate resilience. In this article, we review what is becoming known about various farmer-centred innovations for agroecological crop management that can contribute to agricultural sustainability. These changes represent the emerging system of crop intensification, which is being increasingly applied in Asian, African, and Latin American countries.