System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Less can Produce more

Importance of Rice and Rice systems Rice is the staple food for more than half of the world population Rice systems provide incomes and employment to millions of households Rice systems are important for enhancing nutrition and sustainable development

Issues of Modern Rice Farming

Diminishing land and water resources Increased pressures of pest and diseases Declining soil fertility Poverty in rice producing population Need efforts to enhance the productivity and efficiency in rice production SRI

The basic idea of SRI

Rice plants do best when their - roots can grow large because
the plants are transplanted carefully at wider spacing and grown on soil that is kept well aerated

with abundant and diverse soil microorganisms

System of Rice Intensification

Soft handling
Young seedling

Wider spacing

Weed incorporation

Limited water

What is SRI?
A system of irrigated rice crop management to significantly increase production through changes and integration of the management of rice plants, soil, water and nutrients.
Does not depend upon high-cost modern inputs Reduces farmers costs of production Helps make crop production more sustainable and is environment friendly Easily accessible to resource-poor farmers Enhancement of food security

System of Rice Intensification (SRI) a way out

SRI offers increased factor productivity of

Land
Labour

Water

 SRI was first developed in Madaskar during 1980s by Fr. de Laulani Not known outside Madagaskar until 1997

Its potential is under testing in China, Indonesia, Combodia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India
In A.P, SRI is experimented all the 22 districts with encouraging results Over 1,00,000 farmers are experimenting with this system world wide at present Few thousands of acres are under SRI in the very second season in AP

SRI from Madagascar

From 1 plant

20 years ago

A Jesuit priest, Father Henri de Laulani, in Madagascar is considered the SRI developer helped launch the not-forprofit organization, Association Tefy Saina meaning "to improve the mind."

SRI Technology uses

Less external inputs

Less seed (2 kg/ac)

Fewer plants per unit area (25 x 25 cm) Less chemical fertilizer

More organic manures

Less pesticides

SRI is initially labour intensive

Needs 50% more man days for transplanting and weeding Mobilises labour to work for profit It offers an alternative to resource poor, who puts in their family labour Once skills are learnt and implements are used, the labour costs will be lesser than the present day Rice cultivation

Labour Productivity (US$)

Management options Wet season Dry season

3.29
Conventional
Conventional planting Limited irrigation Conventional weeding Modified planting Conventional irrigation Mechanical weeding

3.46

3.55 4.71

3.39 3.85

SRI

4.64

3.91

SRI encourages rice plant to grow healthy with Large root volume
Profuse and strong tillers
Non-lodging Big panicle

More and well filled spikelets and higher grain weight

Resists insects

Because it allows Rice to grow naturally

Root growth

Root growth can be massive in response to SRI

practices 3 hills under conventional method required 28 kg of force to be pulled up Single SRI rice plants required 53 kg for uprooting

Root growth

Conventional weeding

Mechanical weeding

Tillering is greatly increased

30 tillers per plant are fairly easy to achieve
50 tillers per plant are quite attainable
With really good use of SRI, individual plants can have 100 fertile tillers or even more Because no set back due to early transplanting and no die back of roots Maximum tillering occurs concurrently with panicle initiation

With SRI positive correlation is found between the number of panicles per plant and number of grains per panicle

AGRONOMIC FINDINGS
Tillers per hill were 95% higher during 1st season and 60% higher during 2nd season than under conventional system. Effective tillers were 94% and 122% higher during the 2 seasons respectively

Length of panicle 11% higher in both seasons Weight of 1000 grains 14% 18% higher

Two rice plants in Cuba: same variety (VN 2084) and same age (52 days); 42 tillers on SRI plant vs. 5 tillers on the other

Rice plant
Everybody believe that Rice is an aquatic plant

and grows best in standing water Rice is not an aquatic plant, it can survive in water but does not thrive under hypoxic conditions Rice plants spends lot of its energy to develop air pockets (aerenchyma tissue) in its roots under continuous inundation 70% of Rice root tips get degenerated by flowering period Under SRI paddy fields are not flooded but keep the soil moist during vegetative phase SRI requires only about half as much water as normally applied in irrigated rice

Conventional system with more water

Intermittent wetting and drying and Aeration

SIX MECHANISMS AND PROCESSES FOR SRI

1. EARLY TRANSPLANTING seedlings 8-12 days old, when plant has only two small leaves,before fourth phyllochron More tillering potential

More root growth potential

2. CAREFUL TRANSPLANTING Minimize trauma in transplanting Remove plant from nursery with the seed, soil and roots carefully and place it in the field without plunging too deep into soil

More tillering potential

Transplanted field
Conventional

SRI

SRI nursery

Conventional weeding

Using rotary weeder

After 12 days in nursery the plant height is 7.7 inches (18.8cm)

Length of main root is 5 inches (12.7 cm) 4 leaves

8 small roots

Roller-marker devised by Lakshmana Reddy, East Godavari, AP, India, to mark a square pattern on field and save time in transplanting operations; his yield in 2003-04 season was 16.2 t/ha paddy rice (dry weight)

Seeder developed by Luis Romero, Cuba, for planting pregerminated seed, sowing 40x40 cm (too wide)

4-row weeder designed by Gopal Swaminathan, Tamil Nadu, India

Motorized weeder developed by S. Ariyaratna, Sri Lanka

Diagram of possible stalks of a rice shoot

stalks grow following a regular cycle (phyllochron)

Contd..
3. WIDE SPACING
plant single seedlings, not in clumps, and in a square pattern, not rows, 25cm x 25cm or wider More root growth potential

4. WEEDING AND AERATION

needed because no standing water; use simple mechanical rotating hoe that churns up soil; 2 weedings required, with 4 recommended before panicle initiation; first weeding 10 days after transplanting

More root growth, due to reduced weed competition, and aeration of soil, giving roots more oxygen and N due to increased microbial activity we left in soil; can add 1+tons per weeding? Each additional weeding after two rounds results in increased productivity up to 2 t/ha/weeding

Contd..

5. WATER MANAGEMENT
regular water applications to keep soil moist but not saturated, with intermittent dryings,alternating aerobic and anaerobic soil conditions

More root growth because avoids root degeneration able to acquire more and more varied nutrients from the soil

6. COMPOST/FYM
applied instead of or in addition to chemical fertilizer; 10 tons/ha;

More plant growth because of better soil health and structure, and more balanced nutrient supply

Green Manure crop

Crop residues

Crop residues

Nursery Management

Seed rate 2 kg/ac Nursery area 1 cent/ac

Select healthy seed

Pre-sprouted seeds are sown on raised nursery bed Prepare nursery bed like garden crops

Apply a layer of fine manure

Spread sprouted seed sparcely Cover with another layer of manure Mulch with paddy straw

Water carefully
Banana leaf sheath may be used for easy lifting and seedlings transport of

Main field preparation

Land preparation is not different from regular irrigated rice cultivation
Levelling should be done carefully so that water can be applied very evenly At every 3 m distance form a canal to facilitate drainage

With the help of a marker draw lines both way at 25 x 25 cm apart and transplant at the intersection

PADDY YIELDS UNDER SRI IN COASTAL AREA

YIELD( Kg/ha)

12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Vj Sr Vz Wg Eg Kr Gn Pr Check SRI

PADDY YIELDS UNDER SRI IN TELANGANA AREA

YIELD( Kg/ha)

14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Ma Ra Me Na Wa Kh Ka Ni Ad Check SRI

Performance of SRI in AP- Kharif 2003

No. of Yield trials results > 10 t/ha Range of results Yield advantage (kg/ha)

AP State 134 Rayalaseema 10 Telangana Coastal 40 84

33 6 10 17

3.2-16.2 7.8-15.5 4.2-16.2 3.2-14.3

1869 4731 2504 1145

Performance of SRI in AP- Kharif 2003

(Trials organized by State DOA)

No. of trials
Average SRI yield (t/ha) Control (t/ha)

- 69
- 8.36 - 4.89

State average productivity (t/ha) - 3.87

5 districts averaged over 10 t/ha

Report on SRI Cultivation

Name of the Farmer Address Season Area under SRI Variety
S.No.
1. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

: Mr.A.Jayasurya Reddy : Tarimala Village, Singanamala Mandal Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh : Rainy season 2003 : 0.2 ha : BPT 5204
Farmers method
503 87 15.5 13.3 19.2 5850 7110 150

Parameter
No. of productive tillers/m2 No. of grains/panicle Length of panicle (cm) 1000 grain weight (g) Chaffy grain (%) Grain yield (kg/ha) Straw yield (kg/ha) Duration(days)

SRI
706 152 14.2 14.4 3.2 13297 12600 140

Report on SRI Cultivation

Name of the Farmer Address Season Area under SRI Variety
S.No. 1. 2 3 4 5 Parameter Date of sowing Date of Transplanting Date of harvesting Productive tillers/m2 Panicle length (cm)

: Mr.K.Venka Subba Reddy : Konidedu Village, Panyam Mandal Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh : Rainy season 2003 : 840 m2 : BPT 5204
Farmers method 22-6-2003 31-7-2003 10-12-2003 510 17.2 SRI 19-7-2003 28-7-2003 10-12-2003 1040 20.2

6
7 8

No. of grains/panicle
1000 grain weight(g) Grain yield kg/ha

105
18.8 5625

202
21.1 15774

Cost of cultivation (Rs/ha)

16250

18000

Sri Lanka SRI field, 2002, with yield of 13 t ha-1

LESS CAN PRODUCE MORE

by utilizing biological potentials & processes Smaller, younger seedlings become larger, more productive mature plants Fewer plants per hill and per m2 will give higher yield if used with other SRI practices Half as much water produces more rice because aerobic soil conditions are better Greater output is possible with use of fewer or even no external/chemical input when soil communities are unimpaired living soil is the key to SRI performance

SRI utilizes Biological Power

Rice root system grown under SRI i.e., aerated soil do not degenerate, are much larger and function better Soils that are aerated and well supplied with organic matter can support longer and diverse populations of soil micro organisms, which inturn mobilizes nutrients to the plant Phytohormones produced by bacteria and fungi living in soils and roots promote root growth and the health of the plants Root exudates provide food to microorganisms Application of fertilizers and other agro chemicals has inhibiting effect on soil biota

Advantages of SRI beyond yield

Cost reduction increased profitability Lower capital requirements accessible for poorer households food security Resistence to biotic stresses less pest and disease problems, no agrochemicals Resistance to abiotic stresses greater drought, cold, storm and salinity tolerance, no lodging Environmental benefits less chemicals, lower water demand, reduced GHGs? Biodiversity conservation tradl. varieties Grain quality higher milling outturn, nutrients?

Benefits of SRI
Seed requirement is reduced Conventional = 60-75 kg ha-1 SRI = only 7.5 kg ha-1 Leaves remain green up to harvest

Nursery is smaller and simpler

Saving of irrigation water = 40 50 %

MEASURED DIFFERENCES IN GRAIN QUALITY

Characteristic Chalky kernels (%) General chalkiness (%) Milled rice outturn (%) Head milled rice (%) SRI (3 spacings) Conventional 23.62 - 32.47 39.89 - 41.07 Diff. - 30.7

1.02 - 4.04

6.74 - 7.17

- 65.7

53.58 - 54.41

41.54 - 51.46

+ 16.1

41.81 - 50.84

38.87 - 39.99

+ 17.5

Paper by Prof. Ma Jun, Sichuan Agricultural University, presented at 10th conference on Theory and Practice for High-Quality, High-Yielding Rice in China, Haerbin, 8/2004

Rice crop under SRI

Two rice fields in Sri Lanka -- same variety, same irrigation system, and same drought : conventional methods (left), SRI (right)