Presenter: Koma, Yang Saing Institution: Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC), Oxfam America Subject Country: Cambodia

1. Experiences with SRI in Cambodia
2000-2007
By Yang Saing Koma
CEDAC
April 2007

2. Traditional
Practice
Technical
Practice (SRI)

3. Background of SRI introduction
 Cambodia: 14 mill population or around 2.5 families
 Around 85 % in the rural areas, depending mostly on
agriculture
 35 % of the population is under poverty line, most of
them are farmers
 Around 1.8 million farm-households are rice dependent-
households
 Most of household with around 1 ha rice field
 Rice farming mostly under rainfed condition, yield is
generally lower than 2 tons per ha
 Intensification of rice production and agricultural
diversification are key to improve the livelihood of rice-
dependent households

4. Background of SRI introduction
 Conventional approaches in rice intensification rely on
the developing new or improve varieties, appropriate
fertilizer recommendations, safe use of pesticides and
irrigation
 Farmers are considered to be recipient of technology
transferred by research through extension services,
 This approach lead to increasing dependency of farmers
on external support and input, losing the appreciation of
the local resources, decreasing self-confidence and self-
reliance
 It has become generally-accepted belief that we can get
higher rice yield only applying more (modern) inputs

5. Background of SRI introduction
 CEDAC was set up in August 1997
 SRI was developed in Madagascar in the early 80s by a
French Priest, Henri de Lalaunié as innovative methods
to increase rice production by using existing resources
(water, rice plant, soil/nutrient, organic matter)
 CEDAC introduced SRI as strategy of rice intensification
in Cambodia after learning from LEISA magazine in
1999
 First field experimentation farmers and CEDAC director
in his own farm in May 2000
 At the beginning there were a lot of resistance and
skeptics
 28 farmers volunteered to test SRI in 2000

6. Mr. Mey Som, the first SRI farmer with
CEDAC director in 2000

7. SRI as alternative/innovative system of
rice intensification
 Recognizing that rice plant has great natural
growth potential (more than 50 tillers and
panicle per rice plant, larger and deeper root
systems)
 Focusing on developing methods or management
practices that create a conducive environment for
rice to unleash its natural potential (to have more
roots and more tillers)
 Recognizing farmer’s role in experimentation,
adaptation and dissemination of innovative methods
and management practices

8. Tillering potential of rice plant

9. Root growth and tillering of rice with
traditional and SRI methods

10. Tiller development and root growth of
rice with traditional and SRI methods

12. Difference between traditional and SRI
practices
Traditional
 Rice field is continuously
flooded with high level of
water during the
vegetative stage
 Seedling is raised with
too much water, and the
seedling density is high
 Transplanting too many
seedlings per clump,
mixture of weak and thick
seedling
SRI
 Only minimal water,
preferably keeping the
soil only moist and
dry/wet condition
 Seedling is raised in bed
like vegetable bed with
lower send density
 Only a few seedlings, but
preferably one seedling
per clump, only vigorous
seedling

13. Tradition method vs SRI method in
nursery and seedling management

14. Difference between traditional and SRI
Traditional
 Old seedling, generally more
than one month
 Seedling is uprooted with
damage to root and stem, and
is kept for one to two days
before transplanting
 Seedlings are transplanted
with close spacing, and
spacing is generally not equal
SRI
 Younger seedling, preferably
less than 15 days
 Young seedling is uprooted
and transplanted with care,
transplanted immediately after
uprooting
 Wide spacing and square
pattern or at least line
transplanting

15. Transplanting young seedling with care

16. Traditional vs SRI method in number of
seedling to be transplanted

17. Difference between traditional
and SRI practices
Traditional
 Weeding is not early
enough, not frequent and
regularly (weeding is
done when there are
weeds)
 Use of poorly
decomposed farmyard
manure, and dependent
on the use of chemical
fertilizers
SRI
 Early weeding and
frequent weeding to
improve soil aeration
(weeding before the
weed comes out)
 Application of compost

18. Early and frequent weeding

21. How CEDAC introduced and
promoted SRI
 Identify and select interested farmers to be pioneer in testing SRI on a
voluntary basis and very small-scale
 In every village, we focus on working with a small group of genuine
interested farmers to experiment SRI in a proper way to get concrete results
 Inviting new farmers to see the fields of the experimenting farmers
 Inviting experienced SRI farmers to share with other farmers in the villages
and other villages
 Train best SRI experimenting farmers to be farmer promoter, and support
them to train and advise other farmers
 Inviting representatives from government and other development agencies
to visit and meet SRI farmers
 Provide capacity building support to other to disseminate SRI
 Support the establishment of national SRI secretariat (with Oxfam and GTZ
support)

22. 28 500
3000
10000
17000
40000
60000
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Progress of number of SRI farmers in
Cambodia

23. Area cultivated with SRI methods (in
ha, from 2000 to 2006)
1.6 28.7
900
4700 4788
11200
16400
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 1006

24. Note: Number of rice growing villages: around 12,000 villages
Number of provinces and municipality: 24
Number of SRI villages and provinces
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Number of
villages
18 122 350 815 1397 2500 2685
Number of
provinces
4/24 7/24 11/24 14/24 17/24 20/24 24/24

25. Benefits from SRI
 Yield increase from 1.5-
1.8 tons per ha to 2.5-3.5
tons per ha (increase of
50% to 150%), with
traditional/local varieties
 Some SRI farmers
achieve yield more than
6 tons per ha

26. Traditional
Practice
Technical
Practice (SRI)

27. Traditional
Practice
Technical
Practice (SRI)

28. Benefits of SRI for farmers
 Seed requirement reduced by 70-80%, fertilizers use
decreased by 50 % (from 150 kg per ha to 75 kg per ha),
and most SRI farmers have given up pesticide use
 Net income from rice per ha has increased from around
58 $US per ha to 172 $US per ha (almost 200 %
increase).
 Under marketing support from CEDAC, increasing
number of SRI farmers now market their rice under
organic brand, and receive 15 % premium

29. Change of income earned from rice
production (n=120 farmers, in riel)
0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
700000
800000
900000
before SRI 2001 2002 2003
Variable Cost
Net Income
Fertilizer cost

30. Benefits of SRI for farmers
 Increased self-confidence and self-reliance as they
can get higher production by using only their existing
resources
 Growing interest among farmers in working on other
technical and social innovations (for example saving
for self-reliance, joint marketing and joint purchase)
 Enabling farmers to diversify by using rice surplus to
feed animal and to allocating or converting parts of rice
field for other agricultural production (vegetable, fish,
animals, tree planting), from SRI to SID (System of
intensification and diversification)

31. Concluding remarks
Consistent positive field results with since 2000
shows that SRI is appropriate option to address
problem related to food insecurity and poverty in
Cambodia as well as good entry point in rural
development
More works need to be done to reinforce this
momentum of SRI development and dissemination
so that existing farmers can get more benefits from
SRI (higher yield, diversification, higher net
income), and all rice farmers in Cambodia and
other rice growing region have opportunity to use
SRI to improve their livelihood