System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
with Intercropping
Tavseef Mairaj Shah
Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection
Hamburg University of Technology

 Food Sovereignty
 World Soil Situation
 Water Scarcity (Soil-Water-Food Nexus)
 Climate Smart, Resource Efficient Agriculture.
 System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
Focus Areas

 More calories, less nutrients.
 Future climatic conditions are projected to be
worse than ever before.
 Smallholders feed at least 70 % of the world
population.
Food Sovereignty

 Smallholders: 1 -10 hectare.
 More than 500 million smallholder farms worldwide.
 Livelihood of more than 2 billion people depends on
small-scale agriculture.
Smallholder agriculture

 More than 90% of all farms are smallholder farms but they make up
just 25% percent of the total agricultural land.
 Large scale monoculture farming decreases the soil quality in the
long run.
 Between 1960-90: 1/3rd of productive soil irreversibly degraded.
Soil Situation

 Agriculture makes up to 70% of the world’s total water
consumption.
 3000-5000 litres of water per Kg of rice.
 With the current ‘Agribusiness Model’ the consumption is
expected to increase by 30% by 2030.
 Water scarcity is already visible in South Asia; groundwater is
either receding or becoming too polluted to be used.
Water Scarcity

 A strategy that is not just climate-neutral but also contributes to
improvement of the environment.
 In view of resource scarcity, a more efficient agro-ecological
strategy.
 Food sovereignty: Food security through local and independent
smallholder farms.
What do we need?

 Achieving better yields from the same land area while reducing
impacts on environment (climate).
 Agro-ecological practices like alternate wetting and dryign, reduced
tillage improve water and soil conservation.
 The current paradigm of high input yielding high output is not
indispensable.
Sustainable Intensification

 A set of ‘radical’ practices in rice cultivation introduced in
1983 by Henri de Laulanie in Madagascar.
 Less is more: Higher yields with lesser resources.
 Hailed by many as the ‘most meaningful agricultural
development of the last 50 years’.
System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

 Seedlings are transplanted at a younger age—7 to 10 days,
transplanted with wider spacing, no flooding of the field.
 Better yields with lesser or no impact on the climate.
 It is important because rice is the staple food for at least half the world
population.
http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/
What is SRI?



 Higher yields, less CH4 emissions. Mitigation and Adaptation.
 Global Warming Potential decreases by at least 20-30 %.
 Improvement of soil quality, water retention capacity.
 Improved resistance to extreme weather events.
Reported SRI Benefits

 SRI in Kashmir.
SRI Experiment

 SRI with Intercropping.
SRI Experiments

 SRI with Intercropping.
Results

My Online Interactive Lecture on SRI on www.ruvival.de
Online Lecture


Bibliography

Thank you!