1. The System of Rice
Intensification (SRI) –
An Agroecological Approach to
Agricultural Development and
Environmental Conservation
AEM 6600 – Agroecosystems, Economic
Development and the Environment
Prof. Norman Uphoff, CIIFAD

2. Agroecology – a alternative paradigm
to the Green Revolution?
Inductive approach to agroecology:
• Experience in Madagascar
• Acquaintance with agroecology
• Organization of Bellagio conference, 1999
•Concern with agricultural strategies
• Comparison of 20th and 21st century
conditions for agricultural development

3. Goals for rice sector in 21st century,
acc. to IRRI/DG ( 2004 -- Intl. Year of Rice )
• Increase land productivity-- higher yield
• Higher water productivity -- crop per drop
• Make technology accessible for the poor
• More environmental friendliness
• More pest- and disease-resistance
• Less susceptibility to climatic stresses
• Better grain quality for consumers
• Greater profitability for farmers

4. SRI practices, now available, can
help us meet all of these needs:
• Higher yields -- by 50 to 100%, or more
• Water reductions -- by 25 to 50%
• Capital expenditure – is not necessary,
and neither is use of agrochemical inputs
• Resistance to pests and diseases and
less vulnerability to drought and lodging
• Better grain quality
• Lower costs of production = higher income

5. Additional benefits of SRI practice:
• Time to maturity -- reduced by 1-2 weeks
• Milling outturn (polished rice) ~ 15% higher
• Other crops’ performance can also be improved
by SRI concepts and practices, e.g., finger millet
• Human resource development for farmers,
promoted through participatory approaches
• Diversification and modernization of
smallholder agriculture to improve the economy
• Health benefits – less chemicals in food chain;
reduced arsenic uptake; mosquito-borne diseases↓

6. System of Finger Millet Intensification
on left; regular management of improved
variety and of traditional variety on right,
picture courtesy of PRADAN, Jharkhand

7. SRI Is NOT a Technology = 6 Core Ideas
• Use young seedlings to preserve growth potential –
although DIRECT SEEDING is becoming an option
• Avoid trauma to the roots -- transplant quickly,
shallow, not inverting root tips which halts growth
• Give plants wider spacing -– one plant per hill and in
square pattern to achieve “edge effect” everywhere
• Keep paddy soil moist but unflooded –- soil should
be mostly aerobic, not continuously saturated, and
• Actively aerate the soil -- as much as possible
• Enhance soil organic matter as much as possible
First 3 practices stimulate plant growth, while
the other practices enhance the growth and

8. 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 insecticides
• SRI (AGROECOLOGY) instead changes the
management of plants, soil, water & nutrients:
(a) Promoting the growth of root systems, and
(b) Increasing the abundance and diversity of
soil organisms to better enlist their benefits

9. Takeo province,
Cambodia ; Rice
plant grown from
a single seed

10. Nepal,
Morang
District:
Single rice
plant grown
with SRI
methods

11. Rice field in Madagascar grown with SRI methods

12. Farmer in Timbuktu
region of Mali showing
difference between
regular and SRI plants
-- first-year yield of
8.98 t/ha

13. SRI field in Cuba – CFA Camilo Cienfuegos, Bahia Honda,
14 t/ha – Los Palacios 9 cv. -- 2003

14. Farmer in Cuba with two plants
of same variety (VN 2084)
and same age (52 DAP)

15. As of 2009, SRI benefits have been validated in
35 countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America
SRI benefits have been demonstrated in 34 countries
in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
Before 1999: Madagascar 2004-05: Senegal, Mali,
1999-2000: China, Indonesia Pakistan, Vietnam
2000-01: Bangladesh, Cuba 2006: Burkina Faso, Bhutan,
Cambodia, Gambia, India, Laos, Iran, Iraq, Zambia
Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, 2007: Afghanistan, Brazil
Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Thailand 2008: Egypt, Rwanda, Congo,
2002-03: Benin, Guinea, Ecuador, Costa Rica
Mozambique, Peru
> 1 million farmers/acres

16. 300 Ye llow
SRI CK leaf and
250 sheath
47.9% 34.7%
Panicle
Organ dry weight(g/hill)
200
Le af
150
100 Sheath
50
Stem
0
Stage IH H FH MR WR YR
IH H FH MR WR YR
Non-Flooding Rice Farming Technology in Irrigated Paddy Field
Dr. Tao Longxing, China National Rice Research Institute, 2004

17. Lombok
Province,
Indonesia:
Rice plants
same variety
and same age

18. Indonesia: Results of 9 seasons of
on-farm comparative evaluations of
SRI by Nippon Koei, 2002-06
• No. of trials: 12,133
• 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%
Bali, DS 2006: 24 farmers on 42 hectares:

19. INDONESIA: Rice plants in Nippon Koei office, Jakarta

20. ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
• Natural ecosystems benefit from a
lower water requirement for rice (WWF)
• Water quality better (less NO3) from
reductions in application of N fertilizer
• Soil quality and water quality are better
with less use of agrochemicals
• Less methane (major GHG) results from
not flooding –still assessing effects on N2O

21. Incidence of Diseases and Pests
Vietnam National IPM Program: average of
data from trials in 8 provinces, 2005-06:
Spring season Summer season
SRI Farmer Differ- SRI Farmer Differ-
Plots Plots ence Plots Plots 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 63.4 107.7 41.1% 61.8 122.3 49.5%
folder *
Brown
plant
542 1,440 62.4% 545 3,214 83.0%
hopper *
AVERAGE 55.5% 70.7%
* Insects/m2

22. Sri Lanka: rice fields same variety, same irrigation system,
& same drought -- left, conventional methods; right, SRI

23. Vietnam: FFS farmer in Dông Trù village – after typhoon

24. Measured Differences in Grain Quality
Conventional SRI Methods
Characteristic Methods (3 spacings) Difference
Chalky kernels 39.89 – 41.07 23.62 – 32.47 ↓30.7%
(%)
General 6.74 – 7.17 1.02 – 4.04 ↓65.7%
chalkiness (%)
Milled rice 41.54 – 51.46 53.58 – 54.41 ↑16.1%
outturn (%)
Head milled 38.87 – 39.99 41.81 – 50.84 ↑17.5%
rice (%)
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

25. Use of wooden rake
to mark square
pattern on field

26. Careful transplanting of single, young seedlings, widely spaced

27. Roller-marker devised by Lakshmana Reddy, East Godavari,
AP, India, to save time in transplanting operations

28. Use of roller-marker in Punjab state of India

29. Cono-weeder re-designed by
H. M. Premaratna, Sri Lanka,
locally manufactured for $10

30. Weeding with
rotary hoe in
Madagascar

31. Weeder designed by Nong Sovann, Kampong Spreu province,
Cambodia; built for $3, gets $20 increase in value of rice

33. Simplest weeder -- made by
Govinda Dhakal, Indrapura,
in Morang District, Nepal,
costing about 25¢ --
4 persons can weed 1 acre in
the time that 10-12 persons
can weed an acre by hand

34. SRI direct-seeder designed and built by L. Romero in Cuba;
with transplanting he has gotten 14 t/ha; 40x40 cm spacing
was too wide; neighbor built 12-row seeder to be ox-drawn

35. Liu Zhibin, Meishan, Sichuan province, China, standing in
raised-bed, zero-till SRI field; measured yield 13.4 t/ha;
SRI yield of 16 t/ha in 2001 set yield record for Sichuan

36. AFGHANISTAN: SRI field in Baghlan Province, supported by
Aga Khan Foundation Natural Resource Management program

37. SRI field at 30 days

38. SRI plant 72 days after Yield calculated
transplanting – 133 tillers at 11.56 tons/ha

39. IRAQ: Comparison trials at Al-Mishkhab Rice Research Station, Najaf

40. Head of Agronomy Dept. at
Amol research station,
Bahman Larijani – plans to
include SRI in a new $150
million World Bank project

41. IRAN:
SRI roots
and normal,
flooded rice
roots: note
difference in
color as well
as size

42. Miyatty Jannah,
Crawak village,
East Java,
Indonesia

43. 4-day seedling
used by Miyatty,
West Java,
Indonesia

44. Planting 4-day
seedlings in
West Java,
Indonesia

45. Miyatty
Jannah,
Crawak
village,
East Java,
Indonesia

46. Agroecology – a alternative paradigm
to the Green Revolution
•Different conditions in 21st century:
• Land per capita is reducing
• Water becoming less and less reliable
• Energy costs continue to rise, along
with costs of production
•Environmental impacts to be mitigated
•Need to address poverty more directly

47. Post-modern agriculture:
successor to the Green Revolution?
• Differs from ‘post-modernism’ in
the humanities and social sciences
• Not hostile to science
• Draws on the most contemporary
scientific work in soil biology, soil
ecology, epigenetics
• Post-modern agriculture should

48. Factorial trials by CNRRI, 2004 and 2005
using two super-hybrid varieties --
seeking to break ‘plateau’ limiting yields
Standard Rice Mgmt New Rice Mgmt (SRI)
• 30-day seedlings • 20-day seedlings
• 20x20 cm spacing • 30x30 cm spacing
• Continuous flooding • Alternate wetting
• Fertilization: and drying (AWD)
– 100% chemical • Fertilization:
– 50% chemical,
– 50% organic

49. Average super-rice yields (kg/ha) with new rice
management (SRI) vs.standard rice management
at different plant densities ha-1
10000
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000 NRM
3000 SRM
2000
1000
0
150,000 180,000 210,000

50. ‘Ascending Migration of Endophytic Rhizobia,
from Roots and Leaves, inside Rice Plants and
Assessment of Benefits to Rice Growth Physiology’
Rhizo- Total plant Shoot dry Net photo- Water Area (cm2) Grain
bium test root weight/ synthetic utilization of flag leaf yield/
strain volume/ pot (g) rate efficiency pot (g)
pot (cm )
3
(μmol-2 s-1)
Ac-ORS571 16.42 ± 1.39A 3.62 ± 0.17BC 17.64 ± 4.94ABC
210 ± 36A 63 ± 2A 86 ± 5A
SM-1021 180 ± 26A 67 ± 5A 14.99 ± 1.64B 4.02 ± 0.19AB 20.03 ± 3.92A
86 ± 4A
SM-1002 168 ± 8AB 52 ± 4BC 13.70 ± 0.73B 4.15 ± 0.32A 19.58 ± 4.47AB
61 ± 4 B
R1-2370 175 ± 23A 61 ± 8AB 13.85 ± 0.38B 3.36 ± 0.41C 18.98 ± 4.49AB
64 ± 9 B
Mh-93 193 ± 16A 67 ± 4A 13.86 ± 0.76B 3.18 ± 0.25CD 16.79 ± 3.43BC
77 ± 5A
Control 130 ± 10B 47 ± 6C 10.23 ± 1.03C 2.77 ± 0.69D 15.24 ± 4.0C 51 ± 4C
Feng Chi et al.,Applied and Envir. Microbiology 71 (2005), 7271-7278

51. • Check out SRI website:
http://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/
• Email: ciifad@cornell.edu or
ntu1@cornell.edu or
• Email: tefysaina.tnr@simicro.mg