L-R: Manop Saiphet (Thai
Education Foundation) and Dr. Prabhat Kumar (AIT)
examine the roots of a rice plant from an SRI field site.
Since 70 percent of the world’s freshwater in the developing world is
used for growing crops, the issue of water scarcity would hit the farm
sector very badly. This was stated by experts on the occasion of the
three day regional knowledge exchange workshop on System of Rice
Intensification (SRI) organized at AIT recently.
AIT was a host to a number of regional experts, including high ranking
government officials, to discuss a new rice farming system SRI that
addresses today’s water shortage issues and promises to dramatically
change the lives of people from the Mekong river basin countries such
as Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.
AIT's VP for Research Professor
Sudip Rakshit opened the workshop and
explains the importance of AIT's regional role as a leader in research
for
sustainable development in the context of climate change.
This regional knowledge exchange on SRI was sponsoredprimarily by the
World Bank Institute (WBI). WBI produced a multimedia toolkit on SRI or
as it is more commonly known in the Philippines as Sustainable System
of Irrigated Agriculture (SSIA). The projects that were presented
during the workshop are part or offshoots from the CGIAR Challenge
Programme on Water and Food (CPWF), a major global effort to find
solutions through action research.
Professor Vilas M. Salokhe, Director for Unified Program and
Coordinator Agricultural Systems & Engineering Field of Study
(AIT), explained that 70 percent of all freshwater drawn in the
developing world is used for growing crops. On an average, farmers need
about 2000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of rice. With water
scarcity looming, agriculture cannot afford to rely heavily on water.
This calls for smarter methods of increasing water's productivity in
agriculture without damaging the environment, or threatening people's
food security, health and jobs.
SRI is a methodology for increasing the productivity of irrigated rice
cultivation by altering the management of plants, soil, water and
nutrients. It was invented in the 1960s by the French Jesuit Father
Henri de Laulanie in Madagascar. The productivity of SRI is still under
debate between supporters and critics of the system. During the
workshop, Dr. Abha Mishra, a researcher at AIT presented her ground
breaking research that determined the scientific basis to the
successful yields through SRI practice. "I wanted to get to the bottom
of the controversies surrounding SRI”, Dr. Mishra said. I tried to
bridge the gap between the scientists and the farmers by proving that
SRI practices promotes root growth which is the key to high yield and
healthy rice plants, she added.
Dr. Abha Misha of AIT(on the
right) discusses the future of SRI in Thailand
with a senior government official.
"The most important part about SRI is that you don't need to buy extra
seed,” Dr. Mishra adds. Because plant populations are greatly reduced
with SRI, seed costs are cut by 80-90 percent. Also since paddy fields
are not kept continuously flooded, the water savings ranges between 25-
50 percent, a major benefit in many places. However, increased weeding
is required. AIT's agricultural specialist Dr. Prabhat Kumar shared his
experiences from India where he observed that “farmers who are involved
in SRI are becoming more and more innovative. In India, I have seen
farmers developing weeders. "
SRI requires skillful management of the factors of production and, at
least initially, more labor, particularly for careful transplanting and
for weeding. Yield increases range from 50-100 percent, while the cost
of production is reduced by approximately 40 percent. Brian Lund,
regional director for Oxfam America in East Asia, added a gender
perspective noting that when people starting taking SRI more seriously,
"There was a previous concern that women's work load could go up.
However, through a joint research with AIT, it was determined that
after an initial adjustment period, women found the work load to
decrease; giving them more time for other forms of livelihood and child
rearing."
FAO is implementing programs throughout that work with farmers to
reduce the use of pesticides in South and South East Asia. These
programs, called Farmer Field Schools, use very innovative farmer
extension and education methods. "The SRI practice can be tested within
the context of these farmer education programs happening all over Asia.
National governments are now exploring SRI within the contexts of their
programs especially Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia," adds
Jan Ketelaar, FAO's Chief Technical Adviser for the Inter-country
Programme for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in vegetables in South
and Southeast Asia.
Though not advocates of the practice, the World Bank and FAO both
support deeper research on SRI.
L-R: Ngin Chhay, Director of the Department of Rice in
Cambodia, with
Brian Lund (Oxfam East
Asia).
After the sessions, guests and journalists were invited to the field
experiment in the NorthEast provinces of Surin and Roi Et in Thailand
where they were able to investigate on the effectiveness and
reliability of the SRI practice through dialogues with farmers.
"Farmers participate at every step of learning. We help them to learn
by themselves, “explains Manop Saiphet, a field worker from Thai
Education Foundation, who provides a trainer's perspective on how SRI
cultivates the creativity of farmers.
Some proposed outcomes of the workshop include talks on a future
holistic research for all countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion and
a possible regional network where technical, political and social
findings can be shared freely among interested parties. A formal report
on the basis of this workshop would be circulated very shortly.
On the onset of the CPWF project, a film produced by
TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP) covered the current status of the research
and emerging issues under the global TV series, Living Labs.