Rockflower is excited to report significant progress in the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) project, which is aimed at transforming rice farming in the Oti Region of Ghana. The project is being undertaken in collaboration with One Africa Research Development and Extension Programme (OARDEP).
Since the project's inception, OARDEP has successfully increased the number of participating farmers to 141, with an emphasis on including women and girls, who now make up 85% of the participants. This expansion is critical in a region where 87% of the population engages in agricultural, predominantly rice cultivation. The project now encompasses five communities—Bala, Mate, Avegeme, Todome, and Abrani.
Two years in, the SRI Tanzania project has made a significant impact on the lives of 2,880 farmers, with a 30-40% increase in yield and an approximately 90% reduction in seed usage.
The emphasis of the Norad-funded project SRI Tanzania is on the promotion of the climate-smart agriculture System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods. The project is currently being implemented in five districts in Tanzania by the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) and the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI).
NIBIO’s CEO Ivar Horneland Kristensen reflected on the project’s wider potential: “On a larger scale, if all two million rice farmers in Tanzania adopted this approach, the impact would be transformative. Tanzania could not only secure its own food supply but also help feed six neighbouring countries, improving lives and bolstering regional and global food security,” he says.
Identifying rice management interventions to reduce methane emissions while improving productivity is critical for climate change mitigation, adaptation, and food security. We leverage site-based data to model combined rice yields, methane emissions, and water productivity for 83 sites across the Red River Delta, Vietnam. We test three rice management interventions with our coupled crop-soil model, characterized by Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) and other System of Rice Intensification (SRI) principles. Our simulations are forced with historical as well as future climate conditions, for a high-emission climate scenario centered on 2050.
We evaluate the efficacy of these interventions for combined climate change mitigation and adaptation under historical and future climate change. Two SRI interventions significantly increased yields (one by over 50%) under historical climate conditions while also reducing (or not increasing) methane emissions. These interventions also increase yields under future climate conditions although climate change decreases absolute yields across all management practices. Generally, where yield improved, so did crop water-use efficiency. However, impacts on methane emissions were mixed under future climate conditions. SRI principles combined with high-yielding varieties, implemented for site-specific conditions, can serve climate change adaptation and mitigation goals.
Elles sont plus de 500 femmes de la région des Savanes (nord-Togo) à bénéficier depuis lundi d'une formation sur le système de riziculture intensive (SRI).
Le système SRI permet d'augmenter la production tout en réduisant les coûts et les ressources au bénéfice des agriculteurs. Pour la FAO, promouvoir le SRI sur ces sites de production, c'est participer aussi à la production durable du riz au Togo.
SRI-Rice's insight:
English translation: ...more than 500 women from the Savanes region (northern Togo) have benefited from training the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). The SRI system increases production while reducing costs and resources for the benefit of farmers.For FAO, promoting SRI on these production sites also means participating in sustainable rice production in Togo.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) held a two-day “train the trainers’ programme” on rice production in Kano for 20 extension workers that is intended to enhance yield and mitigate the effects of climate. Organised in collaboration with SRI-2030, the training included frontline extension workers from five states – Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Bauchi, and Adamawa. Speaking at the event, the minister of agriculture and food security, Abubakar Kyari, noted that the initiative aimed to increase farmers’ capacity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. James Dahlgreen, SRI-Rice Programme Manager explained, “SRI will help feed the world with less water, less climate impact, and without taking any more land from nature,. Governor Abba Kabir-Yusuf of Kano reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to agricultural development.
Understanding the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) begins with a distinction between its principles, which are general, and the practices that give effect to these principles when applied, which are and adapted for particular situations. This makes SRI more like a menu than a recipe. It is not something to be promoted by rote learning, glossing over the reasons for its principles and practices of SRI, but rather something that emerges from an understanding of agronomic processes.
Put in simple straightforward terms, SRI management elicits the growth of more robust and more productive plants, i.e., phenotypes, from a given crop variety, i.e., genotype. Application of SRI’s principles and practices evokes the fuller expression of plants’ genetic potential than do most currently prevailing practices, such as high plant density, continuous flooding, and ignoring the contributions of the soil biota and the implications of profuse root growth. This paper enumerates and elucidates the agronomic principles and practices of SRI, considering how and why they achieve the effects that are widely and consistently observed.
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.
The theme of this second webinar (Oct. 24) in the SRI Global Research Network Series is "The Integration of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) with Intercropping." Event speakers were: 1. Francesco Carnevale Zampaolo (SRI-2030, UK) spoke on "Compatibility between Conservation Agriculture and the SRI" 2. Tavseef Mairaj Shah (CinSOIL GmbH & Hamburg University of Technology, Germany) spoke on "iRice - Intercropping Beans with Rice under the SRI as an Innovative Agroecological Approach" For more info, visit the SRI Global Research Network: https://sri-research.org
Periodic rice health inspections are an essential part of agricultural production management in Vietnam, especially in advanced models like high-quality, low-emission rice. For the model in Cần Thơ, periodic inspections ensure rice meets high-quality standards as well as helping optimize cultivation practices to minimize emissions. This approach not only brings economic benefits but also contributes to environmental protection. Thanks to advanced techniques such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), efficient water management, and the use of organic fertilizers, the rice is not only thriving but also helping to reduce harmful emissions. The 1 Million Hectare Rice Program in Cần Thơ promises to bring about positive changes and create new opportunities for farmers and Vietnam’s agricultural sector. -- Vijafarm Limited Company
Lonah Anyango Okumu, a 63-year-old Kenyan farmer from Kisumu in the Western region, transformed from a housewife to a successful rice farmer over four decades.Today, Lonah has grown into one of the biggest commercial farmers, not only in Kisumu, but the entire Western Region. Through education and adoption of SRI and other innovative farming techniques, she increased her yields significantly, improving her family's livelihood and educating her seven children to university level. Her success has inspired other women in her community to become landowners and farmers, revolutionising gender roles in agriculture.
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.
The Community of Hope Agriculture Project (CHAP), under the National Executing Entity (NEE-CHAP), is spearheading the Scaling up of Climate Resilient Rice Production Project organized by the Rice Production Improvement Consortium of West Africa (RICOWAS) in Liberia. In Liberia, RICOWAS targets 13,620 farmers across 2,641 hectares in six project zones. Training sessions, including a TOT in Montserrado County and five other project zones, focus on SRI and CRRP, aiming to strengthen the skills of extension service providers and farmers
A scientific symposium on the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) was organized by Directorate of Agricultural Research on August 6, 2024, in the Birah Magrun sub-district of Dokan district (30 km west of Salymania Governorate). More than 75 government officials, technical staff, and rice farmers attended this symposium; ten farmers expressed a desire to try out SRI methods.Khidhir Abbas Hameed presented a seminar entitled “Positive Opportunities of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) under Current Conditions of Climate Change,” which included justifications for implementing SRI in the Kurdistan Region; overview of SRI principles/practices; and the with SRI methods in the Al-Mishkhab Rice Research Station (MRRS) plots and on farmers' fields in central and southern Iraq.
SRI-Rice's insight:
The effort to bring SRI to Iraqi Kurdistan is especially welcome given the unrest in this region of Iraq over the past few years. This is the second SRI symposium in Kurdistan during the past year, the first taking place in Erbil in May 2024. Thanks to Khidhir Abbas Hameed, a long-time member of the global SRI community, for continuing to expand the borders of the SRI world.
In Chilean fields in the Ñuble region, techniques are beginning to be adopted to reduce water consumption in crops by more than 50% and to grow in extreme weather conditions. An atypical method adapting the System of RIce Intensification (SRI) has begun to attract farmers to fields in the Las Rosas sector to witness that it is possible to produce rice with half the water resources normally used as well as reduce methane emissions. This is being studied together with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Chilean National Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA) at an experiment station in Ñuble.
To obtain a versatile crop, they adapted the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) to the soil and climate conditions of Chile and also evaluated almost 300 genotypes of different varieties, four of which have been selected for their ability to adapt to both droughts and floods. “This is revolutionary, since in many countries they are still not thinking about planting varieties of this type,” says Cordero. The intention is that this Chilean formula for adapting the SRI will be used on a large scale in the future. Efforts to measure and adapt low-emission production systems have also been applied in Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Panama, and Argentina.
"Asia Initiatives and Dilasa Janvikas Pratishthan tested SRI in combination with social capital credits (SoCCs) in one of their projects to empower women in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra, India. By promoting sustainable farming practices, They are not just enhancing livelihoods but also fostering climate resilience and environmental conservation for those most vulnerable to climate catastrophes in some of the marginalized regions of the world."
Meet Djaja Baldé, a determined farmer from Sintchä Benfica, whose adoption of improved rice production techniques is transforming her family’s future: “Look around, see for yourself. Never in all my years have I had so much rice.” (She is one of 150 farmers who participated in this project, with 48% of them being women who received training in SRI, the System of Rice Intensification).
We are in the Gabú region of Guinea-Bissau, where five of the 15 pilot fields for improved rice production established in a 2022 project financed by the UN Joint Fund for Sustainable Development Goals and implemented by the UN in Guinea-Bissau.
The theme of this webinar is “System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Research in Africa” (This is the third in the SRI Research Webinar Series hosted, which is by the SRI Global Research Network.) Date and Time: January 21, 2025 Speakers: 1. Aisha Abdulkadir (Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria) presented “Enhancing Food Security in Africa through SRI: Challenges and Opportunities” 2. Primitiva Andrea Mboyerwa (Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania) presented “Eco Rice: The SRI’s Pathway to Multiple Sustainable Development Goals”
Black farmers in Jubilee Justice’s program grow the crop using SRI. They’re also reclaiming rice farming as their foodways in the heart of Louisiana, about 100 miles north of Baton Rouge, lies the rain-soaked farm that lured Konda Mason is the founder of Jubilee Justice, a nonprofit that helps small-holder Black farmers in the South grow specialty rice with the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), a “dry-land” method developed in the 1970s and 1980s. Instead of growing rice in flooded paddies to prevent weeds from overtaking the crop, SRI farmers treat rice like a vegetable, irrigating it as needed and using other weed control methods.
For Mason, rice represents a way to transform lives and reclaim the past, offering a path toward racial, economic, and climate justice.Jubilee Justice’s rice program, called the Black Farmers Cohort, currently consists of 10 farmers from Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Kentucky
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI) has outdoored its System of Rice Intensification (SRI) technology and potentials of recently released rice varieties. At a day’s visit for farmers at Botanga in the Kumbungu, the efficiency, and the benefits of the SRI technology was introduced to the farmers in the area […]
Climate change and climate variability create hurdles for food security and agriculture- based livelihoods, and acts as an obstacle to the economic growth of the people of Manipur, India.
The Directorate of Environment has introduced the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) to reduce GHG emissions and improve agricultural productivity in Phayeng village where a project to transform the village to a carbon-positive eco model village is in progress. Twenty-one farmers covering about 12 hectares of land were selected based on their interest and field conditions for a pilot study of SRI. Recent changes in the climate are affecting the Phayeng ecosystem services in terms of agricultural sectors and food insecurities.
A high potential is seen in SRI to help secure livelihoods and to enhance resilience to expected adverse impacts of climate change. SRI can be applied with both irrigated and rain-fed rice systems. The most vulnerable people and vulnerable economic sectors like agriculture will be given attention on priority basis.
Rockflower is excited to report significant progress in the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) project, which is aimed at transforming rice farming in the Oti Region of Ghana. The project is being undertaken in collaboration with One Africa Research Development and Extension Programme (OARDEP).
Since the project's inception, OARDEP has successfully increased the number of participating farmers to 141, with an emphasis on including women and girls, who now make up 85% of the participants. This expansion is critical in a region where 87% of the population engages in agricultural, predominantly rice cultivation. The project now encompasses five communities—Bala, Mate, Avegeme, Todome, and Abrani.
"Mainstreaming SRI in Southeast Asia: From Trichoderma to th SE Asia Regional Network" is a PowerPoint presentation by Febri Doni delivered at the Harry ’51 and Joshua ’49 Tsujimoto" Perspectives in Global Development Seminar Series, Cornell University, on September 4. 2024. [SEE VIDEO OF THIS EVENT HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbfv80I8h_w ]
WEEDBLAZER merupakan alat pembasmian gulma presisi pada lahan padi SRI menggunakan laser. WEEDBLAZER menggunakan baterai akumulator sebagai sumber daya. WEEDBLAZER dilengkapi dengan panel surya untuk pengisian ulang daya baterai sehingga memungkinkan alat beroperasi dalam jangka waktu lama, selama terdapat energi matahari yang dapat diserap oleh photovoltaic. --PKM KC 2024 IPB University
WEEDBLAZER is an autonomous precision weeding tool for SRI rice fields made as a prototype by students at IPB University in Indonesia. It uses an accumulator battery as a power source and is equipped with a solar panel for recharging the battery. WEEDBLAZER works with the deep learning object detection algorithm that allows the laser to precisely shoot the centroid point of the detected weed. It is hoped that WEEDBLAZER can increase the efficiency of weed eradication without damaging and polluting the environment.
Validación de tecnologías del Sistema Intensivo del Cultivo de Arroz (SICA) sobre prácticas agrícolas arroceras para mejorar la productividad y el uso eficiente de agua.. Parcela Piloto SICA - Comunidad de Buenos Aires, Corregimiento El Bebedero del Distrito de Tonosí, Provincia de Los Santos.
SRI-Rice's insight:
Validation of SRI (SICA in Spanish) to improve productivity and efficient use of water in rice production. SICA Pilot Plot - Community of Buenos Aires, Corregimiento El Bebedero of the District of Tonosí, Province of Los Santos, Panama. .
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