Increasing Both Quantity and Quality of Rice
Production with Reduced Inputs:
The System of Rice Intensification
12th European Rice Millers Convention
Venice – September 18, 2009
Norman Uphoff Cornell University
What is SRI? Basically, SRI is a set of concepts/ principles/insights/practices that
introduce changes in the management of plants, soil, water
& nutrients to:(a) produce larger, more effective
ROOT SYSTEMS, and (b) enrich the LIFE IN THE SOIL
to achieve more productive,healthier PHENOTYPES
from any GENOTYPE
MALI: Farmer in the Timbuktu region
showing the difference between a
‘normal’ rice and an SRI rice plant
2007: 1st year trials -
SRI yield 8.98 t/ha,control yield 6.7 t/ha(best mgmt practices)
2008: trials expanded
with 5 farmers in 12 villages doing on-farm comparison
trials (N=60)
SRI ControlFarmer Practice
Yield t/ha* 9.1 5.49 4.86Standard Error (SE) 0.24 0.27 0.18SRI compared to Control (%) + 66 100 -11SRI compared to Farmer Practice (%)
+ 87 + 13 100
Number of Farmers 53 53 60
• * adjusted to 14% grain moisture content
Rice grain yield for SRI plots, control plots, and farmer-practice plots,
Goundam circle, Timbuktu region, 2008
Indonesia: Results of on-farm comparative evaluations of SRI
by Nippon Koei team, 2002-06 • No. of trials: 12,133 (over 9 seasons)• Total area covered: 9,429.1 hectares• Ave. increase in yield: 3.3 t/ha (78%)• Reduction in water requirements: 40%• Reduction in fertilizer use: 50%• Reduction in costs of production: 20% (Sato and Uphoff, CAB Review, 2007)
AFGHANISTAN: SRI field in Baghlan Province, supported by Aga Khan Foundation Natural Resource Management
program
SRI originated in Madagascar
Initially called le Systéme de Riziculture Intensive(in Latin America, SICA) by Henri de Laulanié, SJ, who, by 1984, assembled SRI’s counterintuitive practices after 2 decades of working with small, poor farmers to improve their production and incomes, without requiring any dependence on inputs
Rice sector needs in 21st century
(IRRI/DG, Intl. Year of Rice, 2004)• Increased land productivity-- higher yield• Higher water productivity -- crop per drop• Technology that is accessible for the poor• Technology that is environmentally friendly • Greater resistance to pests and diseases • Tolerance of abiotic stresses (climate
change) • Better grain quality for consumers, and• Greater profitability for farmers
SRI practices can meet all these needs:
• Higher yields by 50-100%, or more• Water reduction of 25-50% (also rainfed)• Little need for capital expenditure• Little or no need for agrochemical inputs• Pest and disease resistance is induced • Drought tolerance; no lodging• Better grain quality, and • Lower costs of production by 10-20% → giving farmers higher income
Additional benefits of SRI practice:
• Time to maturity reduced by 1-2 weeks• Milling outturn is higher by about 15%• Other crops’ performance is also being improved by SRI concepts and practices, e.g., wheat, sugar cane, millet, teff, others• Human resource development for farmers through participatory approach• Diversification and modernization of smallholder agriculture; can adapt to larger- scale production through mechanization
Requirements/constraints for SRI:
For best results, need:•Water control to apply small amounts reliably; rainfed SRI now being developed•More labor initially during learning phase; but SRI can become labor-saving; also, SRI practices can become mechanized•Skill and motivation of farmers is key!•Crop protection in some situations ?SRI is matter of degree more than kind -- itsmethods are applied in wide range of agroecologies
SRI is Ideas/Insights, not Technology
1. Use young seedlings to preserve growth potential -- however, direct seeding is becoming an option
2. Avoid trauma to the roots --transplant quickly, carefully, shallow; no inversion of root tips upward
3. Give plants wider spacing – one plant per hill, square pattern for better root/canopy growth
4. Soil is kept moist but unflooded – mostly aerobic, not continuously saturated (hypoxic)
5. Actively aerate the soil as much as possible
6. Enhance soil organic matter as much as possible
Practices 1-3 support more PLANT growth; practices 4-6 enhance the growth and health of ROOTS and soil BIOTA
Two Paradigms for Agriculture:
• GREEN REVOLUTION strategy was to:(a) Change the genetic potential of plants, and
(b) Increase the use of external inputs -- more water, more fertilizer and biocides
• SRI (AGROECOLOGY) changes instead the management of plants, soil, water & nutrients:
(a) Promote the growth of root systems, and
(b) Increase the abundance and diversity of soil organisms to better enlist their benefits
The goal is to produce better PHENOTYPES
SRI
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
IH H FH MR WR YRStage
Org
an d
ry w
eigh
t(g/
hill)
CK
I H H FH MR WR YR
Yellowleaf andsheathPanicle
Leaf
Sheath
Stem
47.9% 34.7%
“Non-Flooding Rice Farming Technology in Irrigated Paddy Field”Dr. Tao Longxing, China National Rice Research Institute, 2004
China National Rice Research Institute (CNRRI): factorial trials, 2004 & 2005
using two super-hybrid varieties --seeking to break ‘plateau’ limiting
yieldsStandard Rice
Mgmt• 30-day seedlings• 20x20 cm spacing• Continuous
flooding• Fertilization:
– 100% chemical
New Rice Mgmt (~SRI)• 20-day seedlings• 30x30 cm spacing• Alternate wetting
and drying (AWD)• Fertilization:
– 50% chemical, – 50% organic
Average super-rice YIELD (kg/ha) with new rice
management (SRI) vs.standard rice management
at different PLANT DENSITIES ha-1
0100020003000400050006000700080009000
10000
150,000 180,000 210,000
NRMSRM
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
0 100 200
N uptake (kg/ha)
Gra
in y
ield
(kg
/ha
)
Grain yield SRI
(kg/ha)
Grainyield Conv
(kg/ha)
Poly.:Grain yield
SRI (kg/ha)
Poly.: Grain yield
Conv. (kg/ha)
Rice grain yield response to N uptake
Regression relationship between N uptake and grain yield for SRI and conventional methods using QUEFTS model (Barison,
2002) – same for P and K
SRI LANKA: Rice paddies,with same soil, same variety, same irrigation system and same drought, three weeks after water was stopped: conventional
(left), SRI (right)
Journal of Sichuan Agricultural Science and Technology
(2009), Vol. 2, No. 23“Introduction of Land-Cover Integrated Technologies with Water Saving and High Yield” -- Lv S.H., Zeng X.Z., Ren G.H., Zhang F.S.
Yield increase in normal year is 150-200 kg/mu (2.25-3.0 t/ha); while in drought year, increase is 200 kg/mu or more (≥3.0 t/ha)
• In a normal year, net income with the new methods can be increased from 100 ¥/mu to 600-800 ¥/mu, i.e., from $220/ha to >$1,500/ha, while• In drought year with the new methods, net income can go from a loss of 200-300 ¥/mu to a profit of 300-500 ¥/mu, i.e., from a loss of $550/ha to a profit of $880/ha
Reduction in Diseases and PestsVietnam National IPM Program evaluation based on data from 8
provinces, 2005-06Spring season Summer season
SRIPlots
Farmer
Plots
Differ-ence
SRIPlots
Farmer
Plots
Differ-ence
Sheath blight
6.7%
18.1%
63.0% 5.2%
19.8%
73.7%
Leaf blight
-- -- -- 8.6%
36.3%
76.5%
Small leaf folder *
63.4 107.7 41.1% 61.8 122.3 49.5%
Brown plant hopper *
542 1,440 62.4% 545 3,214 83.0%
AVERAGE
55.5% 70.7%
* Insects/m2
Period Period Mean Mean max. max.
temp. temp. 00CC
Mean Mean min. min.
temp. temp. 00C C
No. of No. of sunshine sunshine
hrshrs
1 – 151 – 15 NovNov 27.727.7 19.219.2 4.94.9
16–3016–30 Nov Nov 29.629.6 17.917.9 7.57.5
1 – 15 Dec1 – 15 Dec 29.129.1 14.614.6 8.68.6
16–31 Dec 16–31 Dec 28.128.1 12.212.2** 8.68.6
Meteorological and yield data from ANGRAU IPM evaluation, Andhra
Pradesh, India, 2006
SeasonSeason Normal (t/ha)Normal (t/ha) SRI (t/ha)SRI (t/ha)
Rabi 2005-06Rabi 2005-06 2.25 2.25 3.473.47
Kharif 2006Kharif 2006 0.21*0.21* 4.164.16
* Low yield was due to cold injury (see above)
*Sudden drop in min. temp. during 16–21 Dec.: 9.2-9.8oC for 5 days
Measured Differences in Grain Quality
Conv. Methods SRI Methods Characteristic (3 spacings) (3 spacings) DifferenceChalky
kernels (%)
39.89 – 41.07 23.62 – 32.47 -30.7%
General chalkiness (%)
6.74 – 7.17 1.02 – 4.04 -65.7%
Milled rice outturn (%)
41.54 – 51.46 53.58 – 54.41 +16.1%
Head milled rice (%)
38.87 – 39.99 41.81 – 50.84 +17.5%Paper by Prof. Ma Jun, Sichuan Agricultural University,
presented at 10th conference on “Theory and Practice forHigh-Quality, High-Yielding Rice in China,” Haerbin,
8/2004
Welcome to the world of Tilda
PROMOTION OF SRI WITH BASMATI
RICE IN HARYANA
Powerpoint for 3rd National SRI Symposium, Coimbatore, India, 12/08
SRI: Improved Basmati Quality
• Improved head rice recovery
• Reducing chalkiness
• Less green grains
• Fewer damaged & discolored grains
• Reduced immature grains
• Better shining
Haryana farmers’ views
• Bit complicatedBit complicated• Not cheap Not cheap • Labor-intensiveLabor-intensive• Requires continuous attentionRequires continuous attention• Need strong extension & Need strong extension &
trainingtrainingSRI has tremendous potential for small farmersSRI has tremendous potential for small farmers
Constraints on SRI
System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
1 KM Defence Road, Bhobatian Chowk,
Raiwind Road, Lahore Tel: +92 (042) 532 2205 Fax: +92 (042) 532 1509
Solutions Provider in Farm Sector
Raised Bed Maker with Fertilizer & Compost Applicator
Does 5 jobs in one go:
• Opens furrows
• Makes raised bed
• Shapes/compacts bed
• Applies fertilizer in the root zone
• Applies compost in a band where the plant is going to be transplanted
Recommended dose of compost is 4 tons per acre.However, with this machine doing precision placement in a band, compost application can be only 200-400 kg.
Crop condition 62 days after transplanting --average no. of tillers per plant exceeds 90
VID
00034-20090823-1733.3GP
Yan, X., H. Akiyama, K. Yagi and H. Akomoto. ‘Global estimations of the inventory and
mitigation potential of methane emissions from rice cultivation conducted using the 2006
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines.’ Global Biochemical Cycles, (2009)
“We estimated that if all of the continuously flooded rice fields were drained at least once during the growing season, the CH4
emissions would be reduced by 4.1 Tg a-1 . Furthermore, we estimated that applying rice straw off-season wherever and
whenever possible would result in a further reduction in emissions of 4.1 Tg a-1 globally. … if both of these mitigation options were
adopted, the global CH4 emission from rice paddies could be reduced by 7.6 Tg a-1. Although draining continuously flooded
rice fields may lead to an increase in nitrous oxide (N2O) emission, the global warming potential resulting from this increase is negligible when compared to the reduction in global warming potential that would result from the CH4
reduction associated with draining the fields.”
Spread of SRI demonstrations and use in 10 years
Up to 1999 Madagascar1999-2000 China, Indonesia2000-01 Bangladesh, Cambodia,
Cuba, India, Laos, Nepal, Myanmar, Philippines, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Thailand
2002-03 Benin, Guinea, Mozambique, Peru
2004-05 Senegal, Mali, Pakistan, Vietnam
2006 Burkina Faso, Bhutan, Iran, Iraq, Zambia
2007 Afghanistan 2008 Brazil, Egypt, Rwanda,
Ecuador, Costa Rica, Timor Leste2009 Ghana . . .
THANK YOU
• Web page: http://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/
• Email: [email protected] or [email protected]