1. Smallholder Rice Production Practices and Equipment
What about the Women?
Lucy Fisher, SRI-Rice, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
with additional information from:
Sabarmatee, Sambhav, Odisha, India
Stephen Leinau, Earth Links, Santa Cruz, California, USA
Olivia Vent, Lotus Foods, California and SRI Global, Inc., New York, USA
2nd Global Sustainable Rice Conference and Exhibition
October 1-2, 2019
United Nations Conference Centre
Bangkok, Thailand

2. The starting point…
 Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices can help farmers both adapt
to and mitigate climate change.. while sustainably increasing agricultural
productivity and incomes
 System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has been proven to be effective to
help small-scale farmers achieve CSA objectives
 While these farmers have many obstacles, there are millions of women
engaged in rice farming that face additional challenges
 The SRP standards and impacts also address women’s health, labor
and inclusion.
AND SO…

3. What is this presentation about?
Some examples of (and suggestions for) how we can
reduce the physical stress, negative health impacts and
drudgery women experience during rice production..

4. First..
What is the System of Rice Intensification (SRI)?

5. SRI Principles vs Practices
1. Early and healthy
plant establishment
2. Minimize
competition between
plants
3. Build fertile soils
rich in organic matter
and soil biota
4. Manage water
carefully, avoid
flooding & water stress,
create aerated soil
• High number
of tillers and
panicles
• Good grain
filling
• Prolific deep
root growth
• Delayed root
senescence
Higher yields
1 plant/ hill
Wider spacing
Young seedlings
(8-12 days old)
Use manure, compost,
crop residues
AWD for irrigated rice
(mechanical weeder to aerate soil)
Slide:
E. Styger

6. Global Adoption of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

7. What are the Benefits of using
the System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
 Higher CROP YIELDS – 50-100% increase, or more; greater food security
 Higher NET INCOME – reducing poverty for farmers and their families
 Reduced GHGs – primarily methane – 20-30% net reductions in GWP
 Reduced WATER CONSUMPTION – 20-50% less water (in irrigated field)
 Lower COSTS OF PRODUCTION
- less (or no) agrochemicals, 80-90% less seed, less labor (often)
 Fewer or NO AGRICHEMICALS
Yield
GWP
CH4
H2O
USED
SEED
NEEDED
INCOME
AGRI-
CHEMS

8. ALSO
 Greater RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE
- more resistance to drought, flooding, storms, pests and diseases
 And… Benefits for WOMEN - less and less-stressful field work; less exposure to health hazards;
more time for family or other income opportunities

9. There are
1,616 SRI
research
items in the
database!
There are 1,207
journal articles
from Africa,
Asia, Europe,
and the
Americas
216 research
items from
China
203 research
items from
Indonesia
131 research items
from Africa
654 research items
from India
The System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
Global Research Network

10. Now for some
GENDER ISSUES…

11. The “Gender Gap”
https://farmingfirst.org/women_infographic/
Women, on average,
comprise 43% of the
agricultural labor force in
developing countries
Due to the lack of extension
services directed towards
women, they do not get
access to or training for
equipment

12. https://farmingfirst.org/women_infographic/
Slide from the AWARE Program at Cornell
The “Gender Gap”
Why Does it Matter?

13. Some Gender-based Constraints
Related to Agriculture
GENERAL CONSTRAINT
 Small landholdings
 Limited range of finance and
credit options
 Lack of access to market
information
 Low productivity
 Laws or customs that restrict
women’s land ownership
 Bank policies that require a married
women to obtain her husband’s
signature
 Social norms that limit women’s
networking abilities
 Inequitable distribution of household
income
D Rubin, GREAT Pilot course
GENDER-BASED CONSTRAINT

14. Examples of how SRI practices,
equipment, and opportunities can
help reduce drudgery and physical
injury for women
Let’s follow along through the planting cycle…………….

15. FIELD PREPARATION
Men have traditionally done the heavy work, but women in some areas are taking on
more of the work

16. There are companies promoting opportunities
for women to use tractors and other large
equipment..
Hello Tractor in Nigeria:
Hires women tractor drivers that respond
to an app to request service providers.
Can’t tell whether it’s a man or a woman!
Takepart, 8/5/2015
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), India:
Began training women to drive tractors in
2010 partly due to the migration of men
looking for work elsewhere.
Economic Times, 6/10/2010

17. NURSERY

18. Nursery Management
Seeds: 3-5 kg. Area: 0.01 acre.
Field condition: Mostly dry.
Volume of seed and manure handled for 1 acre of main field:
Much less seed, just 3-5 kg, and around 50 kg of FYM.
Duration for which seedlings are managed in nursery: Not
more than 15-20 days.
Distance to be covered: Nursery is inside the main field or
close to home
Seeds: 30-40 kg. Area: 0.1 acre (10x more).
Field condition: Mostly flooded for a longer period.
Volume of seed and manure handled: Around 10-12 times
more than for SRI nursery.
Duration for which seedlings are managed in nursery: Around
30 days or more.
Distance to be covered: Could be far or could be close.
Slide: Sabarmatee and Olivia Vent
SRI METHODS
CONVENTIONAL METHODS

19. Removal of Seedlings from Nursery
Time taken for removal of seedlings in hours/acre: 4-10 hours.
Posture: Bending or sitting.
Materials handled: Younger, lighter and fewer seedlings; younger
seedlings with no need to clean the roots with water; bundling and
handling is mostly a matter of scooping with soil instead of pulling
up from the nursery.
Work environment: Mostly un-flooded, although wet and muddy.
=======================================================
Time taken for removal of seedlings in hours/acre: 20-80 hours.
Posture: Bending or sitting; involving more repetitive and stressful
postures of standing and bending for longer hours.
Materials handled: Older, heavier and more seedlings must be
pulled up, with more energy and cleaning of roots in water;
bundling seedlings requires taking to the bund for draining out of
the water before transporting.
Work environment: Mostly flooded fields.
Slide: Sabarmatee and Olivia Vent
SRI
CONVENTIONAL

20. Total weight transported per acre: 80-145 kg if younger seedlings are
used; up to 200 -250 kg if older seedlings are planted.
Weight carried at one time: 5-6 kg (younger seedlings with soil and
container), or 13-15 kg (if older seedlings).
Time required to transport seedlings needed for an acre: 3-15 hours.
Walking distance: As nurseries are often raised inside or near the
main field, women make fewer trips and walk less distance.
=========================================================
Total weight transported per acre: 400 to 1,200 kg of seedlings.
Weight carried at one time: 7-30 kg
Time required to transport seedlings needed for an acre: 5-30 hours.
Walking distance: More trips to carry more seedlings, and hence
more distance.
Removal of Seedlings from the Nursery
Slide: Sabarmatee
and Olivia Vent
SRI
CONVENTIONAL

21. TRANSPLANTINGTRANSPLANTING

22. MARKERS .. to make a
square planting pattern
Adaptation by women in Thailand

23. Transplanting
Materials handled: Hold 1-2 seedlings to transplant at one
time, weighing 150-300 gm.
Young seedlings are inserted into the mud at wide spacing
at an average rate of 6-10 seedlings per minute.
Time needed to transplant seedlings: 70-120 hrs per
acre.
Materials handled: Hold clumps of 4-6+ older seedlings
weighing 1-1.5 kg at one time.
Women plunge their hands and wrists deep into the mud
at close spacing @ 40-50 seedlings per minute at random.
Time needed to transplant seedlings: 90-160 hrs per acre.
Field condition: Muddy and flooded.
Slide: Sabarmatee and Olivia Vent
SRI
CONVENTIONAL

24. TRANSPLANTERS ……………

25. Transplanting and Women
 Even without equipment, women can ease the drudgery of transplanting with SRI
practices
 Women are generally as capable as men in operating riding transplanters
 Training and extension can improve women’s access to both transplanting
practices AND equipment!

26. WEEDING

27. Weeding
Time: Weeding with a mechanical weeder takes 16-25 hrs per acre.
Farmers normally weed 2-3 times. A one-time supplementary
manual weeding can take another 5-9 hours. Extra skill is needed
to operate the weeder. Men sometimes take over the weeding
task, considering mechanical tasks as ‘men’s work.’
Posture: Standing up straight, with slight bending, is easier to
move between lines.
Time: One-time manual weeding takes 45-160 hrs to weed 1 acre
depending upon weed ecology. More energy is spent on pulling
grown up weeds.
Posture: Alternately bending over and standing up over and over
again puts more stress on the back and legs.
Slide: Sabarmatee and Olivia Vent
SRI
CONVENTIONAL

28. Weeding: More or Less Labor?
• In many parts of the world, women are tasked with
weeding.
• SRI can increase labor if weeding is done by hand,
since using less water can increase weed growth.
• Weeders reduce time and energy needed for
weeding.
• However, equipment design and extension needs to
be more gender sensitive.
• Introducing equipment often changes the entire
activity from a women’s to a men’s activity –
Women may reduce their labor to zero!!

29. Weeders – Manual to Motorized

30. However, most agricultural equipment is
designed by men, for men..
And training is generally given by men to other
men.

31. Odisha, India: NGO Sambhav
Design and weight of weeders have different impacts
on women’s bodies
Cono weeder
heavier - more painful for women–
discarded by program in Odisha
Mandava weeder
lighter – less painful - In use till now
Slide:
Sabarmatee

32. India: Many women also prefer curved
handle design to reduce physical stress

33. SRI-Mas Network, Malaysia:
Handle length adjusted for women
38 inches for women 42 inches for men

34. CAMBODIA: Niek Srer – The Rice Dragon
Designed by women for women in 2014 in Oxfam–supported project in Cambodia

35. Weeder Design Questions from Earth Links
Slide: Steve Leinau
Suggested
modifications
to reduce
force….
But, will it really
reduce physical
stress? And
under what
conditions?
Needs some
research …

36. Harvesting
Time: Manual harvesting with a simple scythe at 50-120 hours/acre.
Plants and panicles are more uniform and thus easier to harvest
Yields can be 2x to 3x higher.
Materials handled: Bundles can be heavier to carry. But the labor of
harvesting a greater yield, with its economic and domestic benefits,
is more satisfying than other operations.
Time: Manual harvesting with a simple scythe at 50-120 hours/acre.
If the plants have fallen over due to weak stalks and are lying on the
ground, they are harder to harvest, and the grains rot.
(field at left)
Slide: Sabarmatee and Olivia Vent
SRI
CONVENTIONAL

37. Health-Related Impacts of SRI Reported by
Women in Odisha State, India
 Fewer infections on hands and legs due to less time spent
immersed in muddy water, and especially if chemical fertilizers and
pesticides are not applied in SRI fields
 Reduction in muscle, bone, and other pains
 SRI labor is assessed as less strenuous overall
 Reduced hours of working in the fields
 Men now share some of women’s work due to the introduction of
mechanical weeders
 More time available to cook and eat comfortably
 More time to rest at home and hence to feel better
Slide: Sabarmatee

38. Women’s Labor - What to Do with Extra Time?
Uh
oh!!

39. To sum up..
We provided some suggestions of how we can reduce the
physical stress, negative health impacts and drudgery
women experience during rice production by
Adjusting rice production practices
Adapting rice production equipment for women
– and make it accessible
Providing better extension and training about practices
and equipment that can reduce negative impacts on
women’s well-being

40. What can we do to give women more
access to equipment and good practices that save
labor, reduce physical stress and avoid adverse health
impacts?
Here are some more ideas……………..

41.  RESEARCH
Arrange for more research on gender-responsive designs by
+ Working with agricultural companies, NGOs, relevant government units
 TRAINING/EXTENSION
Encourage more extension to be aimed at women farmers by
+ Outreach to NGO and Govt. officials, extension units and project staff
 AVAILABILITY
Make more cost-effective gender-responsive equipment made available in local
markets
+ work with agricultural equipment companies
+ train blacksmiths to make appropriate designs
+ outreach to NGOs and Govt projects to incorporate gender-responsive
equipment and training in their rice projects
 Promote the use of SRP standards …But we also need to works on CHANGING
ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR

42. Thanks .. And come visit SRI-Rice online!
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