A Borgen Project article covers several crops that are fighting poverty around the world: Potatoes in China, cassava in sub-Saharan Africa, rice in Sierra Leone, pearl millet in India and more. ...Rice in Sierra Leone: Agriculture accounts for 57% of Sierra Leone’s GDP, with rice reigning as the primary staple crop. However, as of 2011, the nation was a net rice importer due to struggles with planting efficiency. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) was developed to increase rice crop yield and decrease the labor necessary for upkeep. This method requires the use of organic fertilizers, tighter regulations for watering quantities, greater spacing between seeds to decrease plant competition and rotary hoes for weeding. As of 2014, 10,865 individuals had implemented this strategy in Sierra Leone. SRI has enabled rice to become one of the crops that is fighting poverty by increasing crop production from two to six tons per hectare...
As the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has evolved in many ways and in several directions over the past two decades, this review follows the evolution of SRI over time. This overview explains how rainfed SRI, direct-seeded SRI, mechanized SRI, and other modifications have emerged since 2000, and how versions of SRI have been adapted to improve the production of other crops such as wheat, finger millet, maize, and sugar cane.
SRI thinking and practices are also being incorporated into diversified farming systems, broadening the impact of SRI beyond monoculture to achieve broader objectives like the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the conservation of biodiversity. SRI observations and research have been contributing to the crop and soil sciences by focusing attention on plant roots and soil ecology and by showing how crop management can elicit more desirable phenotypes from a given genotype.
SRI-Rice's insight:
Norman Uphoff. 2023. SRI 2.0 and beyond: Sequencing the protean evolution of the System of Rice Intensification. Agronomy 13(5): 1253. doi:10.3390/agronomy13051253
A delegation from the global SRI community attended the 6th International Rice Congress (IRC) in Manila, Philippines, held October 16-19, 2023. The group included SRI representatives from Chile, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Philippines, UK, and USA. Various members of the group made scientific presentations and answered queries at the SRI booth at the IRC, and subsequently participated in side events, including a SRI Research Network meeting, a Philippines Dept. of Agriculture SRI Forum, a SRI meeting for national/regional SRI networks around the world, and field trips to three provinces. The visit was hosted by the SRI-Pilipinas network, organized by SRI-Rice (a program at Cornell University), SRI Global (an NGO in Ithaca, New York) and IndoSRInet (the Indonesian SRI network), and funded by SRI-2030 (an NGO in the UK).
In addition to the IRC events, several participants gave presentations at a Department of Agriculture Forum on SRI on October 20. Organized by the Philippines Council on Agriculture and Forestry (PCAF), the Forum on SRI Practice and Policy: Cross-Country Sharing included an address by the Philippines Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development, Leocadio Sebastian, and helped to strengthen the Philippine Government’s perception of what increased promotion of SRI could achieve within the rice sector. The government has recently approved 250 million pesos for SRI promotion throughout the country. Finally, with the assistance of SRI-Pilipinas members and Adelberto Baniqued, international participants visited SRI-Pilipinas SRI field sites and government assisted programs in the provinces of La Union, Quezon, and Davao del Norte. [contact sririce@cornell.edu for more info]
As part of the International Conference on “Managing Sustainable Transitions in Agriculture (MST 2023)," IRMA hosted a Nov. 8 pre-conference webinar on "Exploring Power, Inclusivity and Intersectionality." The first 20 minutes features Francesco Carnevale Zampaolo of SRI-2030 discussing "The Sustainable Rice NDC Alliance: An Opportunity to Boost Action at Scale." (More on the MST conference 2023 - https://www.irma.ac.in/conference/mst-2023/home)
SRI-Rice's insight:
NDC, or Nationally Determined Contribution, is a climate action plan to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts. Each Party to the Paris Agreement is required to establish an NDC and update it every five years. To learn more about the Sustainable Rice NDC Alliance, visit https://www.sri-2030.org/the-alliance. For more information on SRI-2030, see https://www.sri-2030.org/
El proyecto busca aumentar la productividad del cultivo del arroz a través del uso del SICA, mejorando las condiciones productivas, sustentabilidad, rentabilidad y seguridad alimentaria de la AF de Chile, Venezuela, Panamá y Argentina. Atendiendo la demanda social por alimentos producidos en sistemas de manejo sustentables, que consideren la preservación de los recursos naturales con un menor impacto ambiental. Implementando y escalando un conjunto de prácticas de manejo específicas para cada región que permitan una mayor adaptación del cultivo al cambio climático.
SRI-Rice's insight:
This project trains technicians and producers linked to the rice sector in LAC on the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), to increase productivity and sustainability while reducing costs and inputs in Chile, Venezuela, Panama and Argentina. The Project is executed with the support of FONTAGRO, and leadership of INIA Chile, with the co-execution of IDIAP of Panama and INTA Argentina and in partnership with IICA, FLAR, UNER, UNL and FUNDARROZ from Venezuela. [See this article in English.]
Konda Mason is co-founder and president of Jubilee Justice, a non-profit dedicated to regenerative agriculture, racial justice, cooperative practices, and healing the wounds of Black American land loss and racism. They are in the fourth year of a rice-growing program, the system of rice intensification (SRI), a dry-land technique for growing rice that’s healthy for land and consumers and efficient and productive for farmers.
(This podcast is a collaboration between Quivira Coalition and Mary-Charlotte Domandi of Radio Cafe.)
The authors analyze the role of agroecological-based climate-smart rice farming systems with focus on system of rice intensification (SRI) in climate adaptation and mitigation. Modern agriculture contributes significantly to climate change through methane production, with paddy rice production being a major source. However, there is the potential to reduce the negative impact through SRI. At the same time, the SRI intervention can increase yield by encouraging aerobic soil conditions, improving soil health and stimulating root systems. The chapter provides a conceptual framework for optimizing the management of ecosystem goods and services reflected in the biodiversity contained in healthy rice paddy fields.
Like many nations, Vietnam’s growth prospects are challenged by conflicting objectives. The ruling Communist Party aims to reach high-income status by 2045, which would improve wellbeing indicators. But the Party has also committed to various environmental targets... Farmers in the Mekong Delta have sought to increase rice production with high-yielding seeds and chemical fertilisers. This intensive cultivation has degraded soil quality, which is feared to reduce overall soil fertility and crop yields over time. To prevent unsustainable internal developments from stifling future growth, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has supported System of Rice Intensification methods aimed at increasing rice yields while reducing costs and water usage. Recent studies indicate that greater coordination between farmers and the government — as well as increased training — is required for its implementation.
This paper considers the phenotypical changes and physiological improvements in SRI-grown rice plants could account for the reported enhancement in yield. The published literature provides abundant evidence that the earlier evaluations of SRI were either not well-informed or not objective, and possibly, that 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 Recommended Practices (RPs) , including BMPs, or Farmer Practices (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 on average gave 24% higher grain yield than RPs and 56% more than FPs, while reducing seed, water, and fertilizer inputs.
In Saint Louis, northern Senegal, farmers have had to buy extra rice to feed their families for as long as anyone can remember. “Normally, people can only live off the rice they grow for a few months,” according to Abdoulaye Sy, director at the government’s National Agricultural and Rural Advisory Agency (ANCAR). The rest of the time, people buy rice from wholesalers, hoisting 20-kilogram (44-pound) burlap sacks onto communal minibuses or horse-drawn carts for the long ride home.
But since officials at ANCAR introduced a new method for growing rice, called the “system of rice intensification” (SRI), yields have more than doubled. For the first time, according to ANCAR, families can live off their own crop and make money from the surplus.to
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.
SRI-Rice's insight:
See English version here:
Most of Chile’s rice is produced in Parral and San Carlos in the Ñuble and Maule regions where Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) has been working with the Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) on rice production since 2017. …Over 200 farmers, technicians, researchers and other stakeholders attended the field days. The farmers face water shortages, tight margins, limited market options, high input costs, and heavy weed pressure. Project partners have been adapted the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) over seven growing seasons, achieving good yields using half the seed, less herbicides, and half the water at lower costs. Drip irrigation with SRI is being tried to further reduce water use.
🖐 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 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.
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.
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 with less or no agrochemicals , 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.
SRI-Rice's insight:
For more info on gender issues and SRI, see article by Amtul Waris: "Adept to Adapt: Closing the Gender Capacity Gaps for Scaling Up System of Crop Intensification" published in the Journal of Rice Research 15(special issue): 231-234. doi:10.58297/MJDW2273
The capability of endophytic Trichoderma spp. to reduce sheath blight disease in rice caused by Rhizoctonia solani was assessed under the growth conditions established by practices of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), compared to those of standard irrigated rice cultivation. Rice seeds inoculated with a local isolate of the fungus Trichoderma asperellum SL2 were grown under respective SRI and conventional conditions with the inoculated or uninoculated plants and then infected with the pathogen R. solani. It was seen that inoculation with this strain of Trichoderma protected rice plants against R. solani infection while enhancing plant growth, photosynthetic rate, and stomatal conductance. The biocontrol effectiveness of inoculation with a particular strain of Trichoderma was significantly greater under SRI management compared to conventional cultivation. This is the first report on how a crop management system, in this case, SRI, can influence the biocontrol effectiveness of Trichoderma spp.
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research - Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI) has trained Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) and farmers on System of Rice Intensification (SRI) activities under the RICOWAS scaling up climate resilient rice production in West Africa project. Dr Issah Sugri, Senior Research Scientist at CSIR-SARI and Project Monitor, said the four-year RICOWAS project, was funded by Adaptation Fund supported by Observatoire Du Sahara Et Du Sahel Sahara and Sahel Observatory. The project, implemented by CSIR-SARI, is to strengthen human and institutional capacity in climate-resilient rice production (CRRP) and also to assist farmers to scale-up CRRP...
SRI-Rice's insight:
The USD 14 million RICOWAS project will be operating in 13 countries in West Africa during the next four years. We also found articles recently on the RICOWAS efforts getting going in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Initial evaluations of the System of Rice Intensification focused mainly on its impacts on yield and income. Researchers at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research have conducted a more comprehensive evaluation of SRI methods over six years, comparing them with three alternatives: modified, partially mechanized SRI (MSRI); direct-seeded rice (DSR); and conventional rice with flooding of fields (CTF). Grain yield with SRI methods was found to be about 50% higher than with CTF (6.35 t ha−1 vs. 4.27 t ha−1), while the MSRI yield was essentially the same (6.34 t ha−1), 16% more than with DSR (5.45 t ha−1).
Water productivity with SRI methods was 5.32–6.85 kg ha-mm−1, followed by 4.14–5.72 kg ha-mm−1 for MSRI, 5.06–5.11 kg ha-mm−1 for DSR, and 3.52–4.56 kg ha-mm−1 for CTF. In comparison with CTF, SRI methods significantly enhanced soil microbial populations over time. Biological activity in the rhizosphere was also higher. Similarly, an indicator of soil organic matter, glucosidase activity, was 78% higher compared to CTF. SRI management reduced GHG emissions by 21%, while DSR reduced them by 23%, and MSRI by 13%, compared to CTF. Economic analysis showed both gross and net economic returns to be higher with SRI. While the study documented advantages of SRI, it also showed that MSRI is a promising adaptation that provides similar benefits but with lower labor requirements.
SRI-Rice's insight:
R.M. Kumar, P. Chintalapati. et al. 2023. Comparison of System of Rice Intensification applications and alternatives in India: Agronomic, economic, environmental, energy, and their effects. Agronomy 13(10): 2492. doi:10.3390/agronomy13102492
Conservation Agriculture (CA) and the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) are both agroecologically-oriented production systems that support more productive, sustainable, and resource-conserving farming, with synergies arising from their respective assemblages of reinforcing agronomic methods.
SRI-Rice's insight:
Carnevale Zampaolo, F.; Kassam, A.; Friedrich, T.; Parr, A.; Uphoff, N. Compatibility between Conservation Agriculture and the System of Rice Intensification. Agronomy2023, 13, 2758.
In the recent SRI Forum facilitated by the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), stakeholders urged the government to promote SRI adoption. As conventional rice production practices become increasingly unprofitable, many farmers are turning to SRI.
Dept. of Agriculture undersecretary for rice industry development Leocadio Sebastian said that while the country has been left behind by other countries in terms of reaping the benefits of the modern system of rice growing, SRI has a big future in the Philippines. The government is committing to SRI a budget of P250 million, which has been approved by the House of Representatives for its implementation; a bigger budget would be allocated for SRI in the future.
Rice farming is a crucial component of agriculture in the Philippines, given that rice is a staple food for the majority of the population. It plays a vital role in the agricultural landscape, supporting the livelihoods of millions of farmers and contributing significantly to the nation's food security.
The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is an innovative and sustainable rice cultivation methodology that originated in Madagascar in the 1980s. It focuses on improving rice yields while using fewer resources, promoting environmental sustainability, and increasing the resilience of rice crops. SRI has gained recognition and adoption in various rice-growing regions around the world, including the Philippines.
The adoption of the System of Rice Intensification in the Philippines and other countries reflects a shift towards more sustainable and resource-efficient agricultural practices. Farmers, agricultural researchers, and policymakers continue to explore and refine the implementation of SRI to enhance its impact on rice production and sustainability.
This study undertook to identify a ‘best-bet’ version of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) for conditions in northwestern Nigeria, considering what is feasible for farmer use. Two years of experimental data from 260 farmer-managed rice plots evaluating four of the SRI practices in Zamfara State were analyzed. The variables evaluated were seedling age at transplanting, plant density, irrigation schedule, and fertilizer application. Farm budget analysis showed that the best-bet SRI practices most productive given the natural environment and farming system were transplanting 11-day-old seedlings at 25 cm × 25 cm spacing, with alternate wetting-and-drying of fields, as well as providing full compost plus some inorganic fertilization.
Net economic returns were found to be highest with best-bet SRI practices and ranged from USD 1450–2120 ha−1. While rice production was profitable under both SRI and more conventional management, the return on investment was at least 40% higher with SRI practices than with the other practices evaluated. Based on our data and analysis, we recommend that the Nigerian government and its development partners prioritize and expand the testing and promotion of SRI in the northwest and other regions of the country. This initiative can significantly enhance farmers’ incomes and, ultimately, bolster food security.
Seorang pria di Kota Banjar, Jawa Barat hampir separuh hidupnya fokus wujudkan gagasan selamatkan bumi dengan pertanian organik. Dalam perjalanan hidupnya, ia mengembangkan System of Rice Intensification atau SRI di bidang pertanian. Alik Sutaryat, warga Lingkungan Sukarame, Kelurahan Mekarsari, Kecamatan Banjar yang kini berusia 63 tahun itu sejak tahun 1991 berjuang menyelamatkan bumi dan masa depan.
Aliksa Organik SRI Consultant yang ia dirikan, hingga saat ini sudah sekitar 47000 orang yang belajar langsung melalui berbagai pelatihan. Bukan hanya dari wilayah Kecamatan Lakbok, Kabupaten Ciamis yang menjadi awal mula ia berjuang, namun di berbagai daerah di Jawa Barat. Bahkan, Alik menyebut yang belajar sistem pertanian organik tersebut dari berbagai provinsi yang ada di Indonesia, seperti Aceh, Sulawesi, Kalimantan dan provinsi lainnya. Dari puluhan ribu petani yang belajar itu, ia pun mengklaim lahan yang dikelola secara organik seluas 10.320 hektar. Alik menilai, saat ini di Indonesia terjadi kerapuhan alam pertanian dan kerapuhan pangan.
SRI-Rice's insight:
Alik Sutaryat, of Mekarsari Village in Banjar District of West Java has focused almost half of his 63 years on realizing the idea of saving the earth with organic farming. For the last several decades, he promoted the System of Rice Intensification or SRI. Through his organization, Aliksa Organik SRI Consultant, around 47,000 people have participated directly in his trainings-- not only in West Java, where his began is work, but in Aceh, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and other Indonesian provinces. From the tens of thousands of farmers trained, he has had an influence on 10,320 hectares of organically managed land.
Burmese language video on transplanting and Inter-cultivation with SRI: 'စပါးအစွမ်းဖွင့်စိုက်ပျိုးရေး' အပိုင်း (၂) ကောက်စိုက်ခြင်း၊ ပေါင်းထိုးတမန်းနှိုးခြင်း. This is part of a series of 3 SRI videos on the C4RD channel (YouTube), which features Thein Su, Myanmar's most active SRI trainer.
FAO video from Tanzania: System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a rice farming technique that 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)].
Rice is a staple food for over half of the world’s population. There are many varieties of rice cultivated around the globe, and this ubiquitous crop plays a vital role in providing nourishment and income for millions.
Both a victim and contributor to global warming, conventional rice farming methods have significant environmental consequences. The good news is that there is a solution: sustainable rice cultivation. By adopting innovative practices like the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), we can make a positive impact on the world, the climate, and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
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 water-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.
The UK LINKS programme (Powering Economic Growth in Northern Nigeria), which began in 2021, is a £12m UK government-funded programme designed to support development of a vibrant, inclusive, and diversified economy in three northern Nigeria States of Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa. The aim was for farmers to increase yields and become more resilient in the face of climate change while reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in the country. As a result of the work with the System of Rice Intensification, 45,000 farmers were trained over four seasons, and over 26,000 farmers in Kano, Kaduna, and Jigawa are now actively using SRI. On average yields were doubled, costs were lowered, farmer income were six times highter, and GHG emissions were reduced by 40%.
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 involves growing rice organically using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI).
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. [Read more about the Jubliee Justice's SRI work here: https://www.jubileejustice.org/sri-rice ]
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