The Southeast Asia SRI Regional Network (SeaSRI) official website has been officially launched (https://seasri.org/)! This regional network was formed at the 6th International Rice Congress held in Manila in October 2023. It was constituted by representatives of SRI national networks in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Myanmar, with Vietnamese colleagues also supportive of this initiative but not present. SeaSRI is a collaborative network dedicated to promoting SRI practices throughout Southeast Asia. It brings together academics, researchers, farmers, and other stakeholders to embrace this environmentally friendly and economically viable approach, with the ultimate goal of enhancing food security and farmer well-being in Southeast Asia.
...The findings reported here derive from a regional collaborative project (http://www.sri-lmb.ait.asia/). More than 15,000 farmers participated in the field trials located in 33 districts of 11 provinces in the Lower-Mekong-Basin (LMB). The number of experiments conducted was more than 1,500. Project data show that System of Rice Intensification practices helped to improve conditions across the LMB region. Average rice yield increased by 52%, net economic returns were raised by 70%. Labour productivity increased by 64%; water productivity by 61%; and the efficiency of mineral fertilizer-use rose by 163%. The total energy input required for farming operations was decreased by 34%, while emissions of greenhouse gas were significantly reduced, by 14% with irrigated rice production, and by 17% per-hectare in rainfed cropping.The results of this farmer-participatory research characterize climate-smart agricultural practices that can promote household-food-security and support market-oriented development at low cost, especially in rainfed areas.
Battling drought, debt and ailments blamed on pesticides, rice farmers in northern Thailand have turned to eco-friendly growing methods despite powerful agribusiness interests in a country that is a top exporter of the grain in the world.
Walking through a sea of green waist-high stalks, farmer Sunnan Somjak said his fields were “exhausted” by chemicals, his family regularly felt ill, and his profits were too low to make ends meet. But that changed when he joined a pilot agricultural project for the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method, which aims to boost yields while shunning pesticides and using less water.
“Rice is both a victim and a cause of climate change,” says Sunny Verghese, CEO of Singapore-based Olam’s, which grows its own rice on 25,000 acres in Nigeria, owns mills and processing plants across south-east Asia and ships nearly 20% of the world’s globally traded rice.
“SRI should influence everyone’s thinking. In Nigeria we saw a 70% increase in yields, albeit from a low base. SRI is revolutionary. It is a genuine change in thinking. It is difficult for scientists to understand that an amateur [like Lalanié] should have a solution. We want to partner with SRI, to scale up in Africa.
Farmers from eleven mostly rainfed provinces of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam have reported higher yields and profits from paddy grown with System of Rice Intensification (SRI).
In comparison with pre-project baseline performance, SRI practices helped improve livelihoods across the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) by increasing average rice yields by 52%, farmers’ net economic return per hectare by 70%, labour use efficiency by 64%, and water productivity by 59%. Total energy inputs required for farming operations decreased by 34%, along with significant net reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. These results were reported at a regional workshop of the SRI-LMB project held in Bangkok on November 1-2, 2018.
Visit the SRI-LMB website to learn more about the EU-financed project “Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Lower Mekong River Basin”. The main objective of the SRI-LMB project is to contribute to enhance resilience of rainfed small-scale farmers of Lower Mekong region confronting climate change. The project implementation period is for 60 months with a total cost of action approximately 3.4 million Euros. The project seeks to stimulate local innovation using SRI and Farmers’ Field School (FFS) approaches.
SRI-Rice's insight:
The Farmer's Congress and National Workshop held in Uttaradit, Thailand, on March 29-20, included 300 people, 200 of which were farmers. The event showcased some of the SRI innovations done by SRI-LMB farmers in three provinces of Thailand: Surin, Sisaket, and Uttradit. (See article on the event.)
Rampung Sorathaworn is from Surin province, Thailand, and she tried SRI for the first time just two years ago. She wasn't too sure then whether it was a good decision or not. Neither were her neighbors. "When they saw my field, the villagers sked how I thought I was going to grown any rice," she says. "They kep saying: 'The golden apple snail will eat it all up! Seedlings won't grow like that -- you need to plant 3 or 4 together!' I said "Just wait and see! I'm not sure it'll grow either!" Within a couple of weeks, the villagers had changed their tune.....
Poster for World Environment Day developed by the Asian Institute of Technology's SRI-LMB (Lower Mekong Basin) Project, a regional project with small-scale farmers to improve their livelihood, food security and nutrition. In addition to increasing yield at lower cost, plants grown with SRI methods are more capable of absorbing micronutrients like iron, zinc, copper, magnesium in the grain, which improves its nutritional value as well. Better roots and plant growth is visually distinct in SRI.
SRI-Rice's insight:
Great graphics! Thanks to Bishal for sending this!
The Asian Center of Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (ACISAI) is implementing an EU-financed project entitled “Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Lower Mekong River Basin.” The project aims to enhance the resilience of rainfed small-scale farmers of Lower Mekong region (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam) by using Farmers’ Field School (FFS) approaches to sustainably improve agricultural productivity and food security through adapting and adopting SRI methods. As part of the action-research, more than 405 sets of field experiments have been carried out involving approximately 7,000 farmers. The initial calculation of yields across the region has showed an average paddy yield of 4.7 t/ha which is 66 % more than the regional baseline yield. (See project website)
Dec. 2016 SRI-LMB Newsletter for the EU-financed project “Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Lower Mekong River Basin” The main objective of the project is to contribute to enhance resilience of rainfed small-scale farmers of Lower Mekong region confronting climate change. The project implementation period is for 60 months with a total cost of action approximately 3.4 million Euros.
Where does rice come from and is there a better way to grow it? In Thailand, several farms have reportedly used SRI successfully. Usually, 1 rai of land produces about 1 ton of rice. Those using SRI have reported anywhere from a modest 1.5 tons to an astonishing 6 tons per rai.
According to the Dec. 2015 project newsletter (vol III, no.2) , more than 5,000 primarily rainfed rice farmers in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam have been learning and adapting SRI methods at 172 sites in 32 districts of 11 provinces this year. Despite this year's delayed monsoon the SRI fields were able to cope up with harsh weather vagaries. Small rainfed farmers continued to adopt SRI methods due to better crop production as well as increased tolerance to droughts, pests and diseases. The SRI-LMB Project is spearheaded by the ACISAI Center at the Asian Institute of Technology in Pathumthani, Thailand.
The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) aims to plant a single seedling and care for it well so it will yield more rice and reduce the amount of water needed to produce it! At ECHO Asia we grow rice using this system, having several trainings per year that involve participants in the process of planting and harvest!
Video produced for the final regional workshop (Nov. 1-2, 2018) of the four-country EU-funded, AIT-led project entitled Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Lower Mekong River Basin. The SRI-LMB project, which was lead by the ACISAI Centre at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, benefited 15,000 farmers in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. (more info: http://sri-lmb.ait.ac.th/
...In comparison with pre-project baseline performance, SRI practices helped improve livelihoods across the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) by increasing average rice yields by 52%, farmers’ net economic return per hectare by 70%, labor-use efficiency by 64%, and water productivity by 59%. Total energy inputs required for farming operations decreased by 34%, along with significant net reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The results were reported from 582 research sites spread across 33 districts in 11 provinces of the four countries, all as a part of a regional project led by the Asian Institute of Technology with funded by the EU for €3.4 million.
SRI-Rice's insight:
The final report for the SRI-LMB Workshop (Nov. 1-2, 2018) is now available. You can also find the evaluation of the SRI-Lower Mekong Basin project, which ran from 2013-2018 in four countries. There are also available from theSRI-LMB website: http://sri-lmb.ait.ac.th/
Video of the SRI Lower Mekong Basin (SRI-LMB) National Workshop & Farmers Congress, held March 20-19, 2018, in Uttaradit province, Thailand. Thailand is one of the four SE Asian nations covered by the SRI-LMB project, which is funded by the EU and coordinated by the ACISAI Centre at the Asian Institute of Technology.
The December 2017 (Vol 5 Issue 2) issue of the SRI-LMB newsletter has project updates on activities related to adaptation of SRI methods to rain-fed rice production in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The project “Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Lower Mekong River Basin” (SRI-LMB) is an EU-financed effort led by ACISAI at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand.
SRI-Rice's insight:
Presentations about the SRI-LMB Project findings were delivered by Abha Mishra recently in South Africa at the 4th Global Science Conference on Climate Smart Agriculture, and the 3rd International Conference on Global Food Security.
Find out more about how SRI can contribute significantly to enhancing small farmer incomes, their living standards, and the overall food security in the Lower Mekong River Basin. This edition of the newsletter also contains items about the SRI-LMB Workshop in Laos (April), the Regional Review and Planning Workshop in Vietnam, and a look at some of the champion farmers who participate in the four-country EU-financed project “Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Lower Mekong River Basin.” The project, which is led by the Asian Institute of Technology involves farmers in 11 provinces in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
...within the farming community there is more potential for problem-solving, innovation, and resource mobilization than usually evident under current organizational structures and stratification, we opted to work with the principles and practices of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) which are amenable to farmers’ experimentation and adaptation. SRI was developed with and for smallholders who have few economic inputs but have some control over their own resources. The purpose of our project intervention was and is to contribute towards food security of smallholder households in the Lower Mekong River Basin who are burdened by climate change together with other biophysical and socio-economic constraints.
A regional collaborative project is being implemented in rainfed areas of the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) countries. (http://www.sri-lmb.ait.asia/). As part of the action-research, more than 120 sets of field experiments have been carried out at 60 FPAR sites in Cambodia and Thailand, directly involving 3600 farmers. The yields were 60 and 100% higher than the average baseline yield in the region, 3.14 t/ha. The economic gains for farmers were found to be higher in rainfed areas when using the new methods.
ECHO Asia in collaboration with Fah Mui Farm will organize a two-day "The Northern Thailand SRI Experience: Sharing, Practicing and Niche Marketing" workshop at Fah Mui's farm in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand during June 8 - 9, 2016.
For more information contact: ECHO Asia Impact Center Chiang Mai, THAILAND. Tel: +66 53 304 028 E-mail: echoasia@echonet.org or register at www.echocommunity.org หากต้องการข้อมูลเพิ่มเติมกระณาติดต่อ เอคโค่ เอเซีย อิมแพค เซ็นเตอร์ เลขที่ echoasia@echonet.org หรือลงทะเบียนเพื่อเข้าร่วมงานได้ที่ www.echocommunity.org
System of Rice Intensification: Lessons from the Field and Farmer Innovations Wanpen Channard and her daughter, Picharineeraksri, are farmers from Baan ...
SRI-Rice's insight:
This Thai farmer presentation is from the ECHO Conference held in October in Thailand. The presentation is translated in English... so don't give up when you hear just Thai language in the beginning.
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