R. Murugavel, an SRI farmer from Vadugapatti in Theni district, was felicitated by Theni Collector R.V. Shajeevana, officers and farmers associations here on Monday for bagging the State-level award for recording the highest productivity in yield. Mr. Murugavel told media persons that he had been doing farming for the last two decades. He was now growing paddy and other crops on 1.40 hectares of leased land. “I was encouraged by Agriculture Department officials in Periyakulam, who organised training programmes and camps on System Rice Intensification (SRI) technique,” he said.
The impact of climate change on methane (CH4) emissions from rice production in the Coimbatore region of Tamil Nadu was studied utilizing the closed-chamber method for gas collection and gas chromatography analysis. This study identified differences in CH4 emissions between conventional cultivation methods and the system of rice intensification (SRI). Experimental data were subsequently used to guide parametrization and validation of the DeNitrification–DeComposition (DNDC) model.
The validated model was then used to develop future CH4 emissions projections under various shared socio-economic pathways for the mid- (2021–2050) and late (2051–2080) century. The analysis revealed a potential increase in CH4 emissions for the simulated scenarios, which was dependent on specific soil and irrigation management practices. Conventional cultivation produced the highest CH4 emissions. The findings underscored an urgency to develop climate-smart location-specific mitigation strategies focused on simultaneously improving current water and nutrient management practices. This research also highlighted the critical interaction that exists between agricultural practices and climate change, and emphasized the need to implement adaptive crop management strategies that can sustain productivity and mitigate the environmental impacts of rice-based systems in southern India.
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.
Paddy, which is predominantly cultivated under the conventional inundation method, is the largest water consuming crop in India. Given the looming water scarcity, the inundation method of paddy cultivation is no longer sustainable. The impacts of SRI on water saving, land and water productivity as well as on profitability are expected to vary in different ecological settings namely tank, canal and groundwater irrigated areas. In this chapter, utilising data collected from a total of 300 sample farmers from three different settings in Tamil Nadu state, an attempt has been made to fill this gap. The study shows that by adopting SRI method, farmers can save about 40% of irrigation water, increase land productivity by about 46% while reducing 23% in cost of cultivation over the conventional inundation method. While increasing irrigation water productivity and economic water productivity substantially, SRI also generates an additional profit of INR 17,169/acre over the same realised by non-SRI farmers.
Press Information Bureau: Prime Minister announces 1,00,000 crore aid to enhance agricultural infrastructure. ...Farmers need technology to survive with optimum use of water fertilizers and soil manure. In Tamil Nadu, System of Rice intensification is being successfully implemented by farmers with great success. The system of rice intensification is targeted to be expanded to 27.18 lakh acres in 2020-21 according to state government. With continuous water being released from Mettur Dam into Cauvery, food grain production in Tamil Nadu is expected to rise and reach the target of 28 lakh metric tonne paddy procurement by September.
Congratulations to Sabarmatee and her father, Professor Radha Mohan, who have been conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri Award – a recognition for their decades-long efforts to transform a barren land into a lush food forest in Odisha’s Nayagarh district. There Sabarmatee, a long-time SRI champion, uses System of Rice Intensification methods to conserve 500 indigenous varieties of rice, which she shares through her "Adopt a Seed" program.
Award for Highest SRI Yield[Jan. 27, 2020] Tamil Nadu State awards included a special award for obtaining the highest paddy yield with the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which was presented to S Yuvakumar, a farmer from Kunnangattu Valasu, Pasuvapatti village in Erode district.
Twelve years ago, I asked the then Agriculture Secretary of Tamil Nadu whether his department was undertaking any programme to promote the concept of water conservation without compromising on yield. I had just returned from the U.S. where I had seen people conserve water in different ways...The officer clearly did not like my question, nor did he like the U.S. example. He curtly replied that his department was doing everything it could.
The officer’s attitude was not an isolated case. Around the same time, I went to Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu and asked a relative whether he would be receptive to the idea of water conservation, even while maintaining the same level of yield.. [He] shrugged off the question. Thankfully, changes do happen. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been in touch with farmers from different regions in Tamil Nadu..I was in for a pleasant surprise with the relative. This time he gave me a lecture on how to save water while raising paddy. He is an avid practitioner of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). The drought that the Cauvery delta had faced convinced him about water efficiently. He realised that he could no longer rely on the “traditional” practice.
...R. Muthukumar, a farmer of Tiruvannamalai district, said he could not spot anyone interested in SRI 6-7 ago. But this has changed, he said. Drought teaches people the value of water. ..This is not to say that the problem has been solved. ..People are waking up to reality now, and hopefully it’s not too late.
Paddy, which is predominantly cultivated under the conventional inundation method, is the largest water consuming crop in India. Given looming water scarcity, the inundation method of paddy cultivation is no longer sustainable. A newly introduced method of paddy cultivation, popularly known as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), is reportedly helping to reduce water consumption and increase land productivity. SRI has now been in practice for some years in India but the various impacts of SRI on water saving, land and water productivity as well as on profitability which are expected to vary in different ecological settings – namely in tank, canal and groundwater irrigated areas – remain largely unexplored. In this study, using data collected from a total sample of 300 farmers from three different settings in Tamil Nadu state, an attempt has been made to fill this gap. The study shows that by adopting the SRI method farmers can save about 40% of irrigation water and increase land productivity by about 46% while reducing the cost of cultivation by 23% over the conventional inundation method. While increasing irrigation water productivity and economic water productivity substantially, SRI also generates an additional profit of Rs 17,169/acre (1 USD = INR 70.12; 1 acre = 4047 m2) compared to that realised by non-SRI farmers.
TRICHY: The system of rice intensification (SRI) is gaining popularity in the district as the agriculture department has resolved to implement the technique on 87,500 acres out of 1.25 lakh acres where samba usually takes place in the district. At the same time, the agriculture department has nominated a dedicated assistant for 84 revenue villages, under the "whole village' scheme, to switch the cultivation method to SRI from traditional methods.
TRICHY: As the system of rice intensification (SRI) has proven effective for crops in times of water crisis, experts in the field have urged farmers to use the method to manage under drought conditions in their areas...
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a $318 million loan to the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization Project to promote climate resilient agriculture technologies, improve water management practices, and increase market opportunities for small and marginal farmers. About 500,000 farmers, of which a majority are small and marginal, are expected to benefit from improved and modernized tank irrigation systems. To enhance the ability of crops to withstand expected adverse impacts of climate change, the project will support smallholder producers adopt new conservation technologies such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and Sustainable Sugar Initiative (SSI). They reduce average water usage by 35 percent and increase yields by 22 percent per ha. The project is expected to increase the yield of rice, maize, and pulses by 18–20 percent.
In the last five years, 11,880 villages were covered by the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) as a whole village concept and 27.20 lakh acres were brought under this technology, which helped it get a yield of 4,429 kg of paddy per hectare, he said, adding that this year 3,000 more villages were being covered by SRI.
For P. Prasanna (32), who has bagged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Special Award this year for high yield of paddy by adopting System of Rice Intensification (SRI) technique, her interest towards farming neve wanes..
This study assesses the impact of three cultivation methods (wetland, SRI, and direct seeding) on the biochemical properties and bacterial communities within the rice rhizosphere across three key growth stages: tillering, flowering, and maturity. The results deepened our understanding of how different cultivation practices influence plant-microbe interactions and their implications for overall rice productivity and soil health. Soil organic carbon (SOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), dehydrogenase, substrate-induced respiration (SIR), and metabolic quotient (MQ) were assessed along with high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing of rice rhizosphere soils.
The rice rhizosphere soil under the SRI registered the highest SOC, MBC, and dehydrogenase followed by wetland and least in direct seeded aerobic cultivation. Cultivation methods caused notable shifts in the abundance of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Chloroflexi, while crop growth stages affected the abundance of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, and Bacteroidetes. Based on these results, the SRI method brings higher diversification to the rhizosphere bacteriobiota, as well as greater incorporation of carbon into the soil and increased dehydrogenase activity compared to the wetland and aerobic rice.
Green manuring–system of rice intensification (SRI)–blackgram (rice fallow pulses) cropping system is novel, and appears to be a sustainable approach, combining innovative farming techniques to optimize yields, improve soil health, and minimize environmental impacts. Field demonstrations were conducted on a farmer's field through the National Pulses Research Centre, Vamban, Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu, within the kharif rabi and summer seasons of 2019–20. The demonstration was conducted in 50 hectares with 92 locations of Ponnaniyar sub-basin.
The improved practice of SRI recorded higher plant height and other yield attributes, including yields from 7580 to 9400 kg ha−1. Concurrently, within the IPT framework for the GM–SRI–Rice fallow pulses cropping system, the yields for Rice fallow Blackgram were 590 to 730 kg ha−1. A remarkable 39.9 percent enhancement in system productivity through the adoption of IPT practicesas well as significantly higher water productivity, The green manure–system of rice intensification–rice fallow pulses crop sequences emerged as the more productive and sustainable option, displaying the potential to enhance soil productivity and fertility status compared to conventional rice–blackgram/groundnut cropping sequences. These systems present promising alternatives for farmers Tamil Nadu's Ponnaniyar sub-basin.
Tamil language video on featuring a three-row paddy weeder that can be used with SRI methods. (However, rows must be very straight to weed 3 rows at once!)
CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday, December 22, 2020, announced that the award being given to farmers for obtaining highest yield of paddy through the System of Rice Intensification method during the Republic Day celebrations every year will be named after farmers’ leader late C Narayanasamy Naidu, who strove for the rights of the farmers for many decades.
The World Bank-funded Irrigated Agriculture Modernization and Water Bodies Restoration and Management project in Tamil Nadu introduced SRI over larger areas to maximize the productivity of crop and water. The on-farm trial was conducted with 3 treatments: Conventional transplanting (CTR) @ 20 x10 cm spacing, SRI (all components), machine-planted SRI (except planting, all SRI components). Results showed that SRI with full components performed best due to more productive tillers, grains/panicle and panicle length. Higher net income was obtained in SRI, whilst the benefit cost ratio was higher in machine-planted SRI. SRI resulted higher water productivity followed by machine- planted SRI when compared to CTR. Machine planting reduced the labour requirement for the crop establishment which in turn increased the labour productivity of 7.93 kg/man days when compared to CTR of 4.4 kg/man days. With lesser water and labour more rice can be produced in unit area by using the modified SRI transplanter.
In Tamil Nadu, the extreme variation in rainfall had reduced the availability of water to agriculture and caused the groundwater table to fall by 37%. The production of rice, an important crop, had became particularly precarious. A well-designed upscaling strategy boosted and sustained the production of rice; it also helped the build-up of organic matter and improved soil fertility. This experience shows that the System of Rice Intensification offers an attractive opportunity for increasing food production per unit of water and improving efficiency.
SRI-Rice's insight:
To cite this article: Nayar, Vibhu, V.K. Ravichandran, B.C. Barah, and N. Uphoff. 2020. Sustainable SRI and rice production: Learnings from an irrigated agriculture management project in Tamil Nadu . Economic & Political Weekly LV(2): 46-51.
Tamil Nadu The SRI methodology is gaining popularity in Trichy district as the agriculture department has resolved to implement the technique on 87,500 acres out of 1.25 lakh acres where samba crop cultivation usually takes place.
At the same time, the agriculture department has nominated a dedicated assistant agriculture officer in each for 84 revenue villages, under the ‘Whole village’ scheme, to switch the cultivation method to SRI from traditional methods.
The concerted efforts of promoting the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), a technique of paddy cultivation to gain maximum yield with less water, have resulted in bringing more than 70% of paddy area covered under the method. During the current samba season, a total of 11,135 hectares have so far been brought under the paddy cultivation as against the target of 17,050 hectares. Of the 11,135 hectares, paddy crop has been raised on 8,546 hectares under the System of Rice Intensification method. It is more than 70% of actual paddy cultivated area. “It is a significant achievement. SRI is a proven method of paddy cultivation to maximise yield with less water and overhead.
Four hundred and sixteen on-farm demonstrations on system of rice intensification (SRI) were carried out in 350 hectares of farmer’s fields in Sankarankovil, Vasudevanallur and Kuruvikulam blocks of Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu from 2008-09 to 2010-11 under Tamil Nadu – Irrigated Agriculture Modernization and Water Bodies Restoration and Management (TN-IAMWARM) project. Two methods SRI and conventional, were compared. The results revealed that the adoption of SRI favorable influenced yield attributes and yield of rice. The maximum grain yield (8222 kg ha-1) obtained from SRI which was higher than conventional method (6534 kg ha-1). Higher grain yield coupled with substantial water saving to the tune of 37.1 per cent resulted in higher water use efficiency of rice under SRI method. The best net income ( Rs. 50, 587) and benefit: cost ratio (3.64) were also associated with SRI than conventional method of rice cultivation. The cost of cultivation was comparatively lesser in SRI which resulted in gaining an additional income of Rs. 8080 ha-1 as compared to conventional method of rice cultivation. The system of rice intensification (SRI) proved its benefits in this basin.
SRI-Rice's insight:
M. Paramasivan. 2017. Productivity, water use efficiency and economics of system of rice intensification (SRI) in Nichabanadhi sub basin of southern Tamil Nadu. Journal of Applied and Natural Science 9(1): 286-290
Three aspects of different rice cultivation, carbon footprint, water productivity, and energy efficiency were analysed. GHG emissions from rice cultivation estimated are CH4, N2O and CO2.Three rice cultivation systems SRI (System of Rice Intensification), AWD (Alternate Wetting and Drying) and conventional were selected which differ in agronomic and water management practices. The gas samples were collected using static closed chamber and was analysed using a gas chromatograph equipped with FID. Water irrigated to the field was measured in m3 using a water meter. The estimates of carbon footprint were prepared using the global warming potential of the above GHGs as suggested by IPCC. The results indicate that SRI method of cultivation recorded less carbon footprint of 0.491 kg CO2 eq. /kg of dry matter with higher yield 10.82 t and water 1.69 kg/m3.
SRI-Rice's insight:
R. K. Rajesh Krishnan et al. 2017. Sobering rice production from conventional to climate smart. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences 6(8): 2804-2813. doi: 10.20546/ijcmas.2017.609.345
All India Radio’s Local Station in Nagercoil had bagged ‘Outstanding commercial performance’ award from Prasar Bharati, said A. Shanmugiah, Programme Head, here on Monday. ...due to the persistent campaign by the AIR for System Rice Intensification (SRI), the cultivation of paddy had increased by 30 per cent in Kanniyakumari district and the station had initiated establishment of six federations of coconut farmers.
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