Presenter: Ram Bahadur Khadka Title: New Directions for the System of Rice Intensification in Nepal: Mechanization and Biofertilizers Date: December 9, 2016 Venue: Mann 102, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

1. Outline
 Nepal : Overview
 SRI in Nepal:
Historical perspectives
 New directions in SRI
 Mechanization options
in SRI
 Problems
 Ways forward

2. Nepal: Overview
Area: 14.7 M ha (147,181
km2) -- 93rd in the world
 Population: 26.6 M (2011)
 Pop. growth: 1.4% (2011)
 Density: 199/km2 -- 62nd
Mountains: 3000-8,848 masl,
35% of area, 2% arable
Hills: 800-2,400 masl, 43% of
area, only 10% arable
Terai: 60-300 masl, 23% of
area, 50% arable
Seasons: Spring (March-May),
Summer (June-August), Autumn
(Sept.-Nov.), Winter ( Dec-Feb).
Rice seasons : Main (rainy), boro (winter) and early (spring)

3. 1999 • First SRI trial (NARC-Cornell University)
2001
• Trials on variety, spacing, water management (CIMMYT-
NWRP, Appropriate Tech. Asia(ATA)
2002 • FFS set up in the Sunsari-Morang Irrig Project, yield: 8 t/ha
• SRI-Nepal Discussion Group formed
2005
• SRI project won 2nd place in the World Bank’s Nepal
Development Marketplace competition
• National SRI workshop in Kathmandu (ICIMOD hosted)
2008
• SRI had started in more than 20 districts by GOs/NGOs
(reaching 2500 farmers)
• Success at 2500 m altitude in southern Humla (ATA)
2010
• EU-funded Food Facility project launched in 10 districts-
100s of SRI FFSs developed, trials and demon in FFSs
2012-16
• NARC started systematic research, GON has launched
mega rice project-SRI an important element
• SRI reached more than 50 districts (out of 75)

4. New Directions

5. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Organic SRI SRI Conventional Wet DSR Dry DSR
6.6
4.98
3.52
Yield(mt/ha)
Pr (f)>= 0.003, LSD =1.39
Yield affected by cultivation methods
Khadka, unpublished, 2014

6. Performance of FAR
landraces in SRI
 Landraces have 3-4 fold
higher price in market, due to
their premium quality
 Well-adapted to conditions
 Problems: low yield, high
disease, unresponsive with
fertilizer, lodging
Khadka, et. al. 2014

7. Scale value
0= no lodging,
5 =100 % lodging
1= no disease
9 - highest disease
LSD=0.92**LSD=0.62**
SRI: Biotic and Abiotic stresses

8. Performance of drought-tolerant rice
varieties under SRI management
6.54
7.59
7.87
6.31
6.07 5.96
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
8.00
9.00
Sukh-3 Radha-4 Sukha-5 Sukha-4 Sukha-1 Sukha-6
Grain weight (mt/ha)
Straw yeild (mt/ha)
Unpublished Khadka et. al. 2015.
Yield(mt/ha)

9. Modern varieties with SRI

10. Org. SRI-
Tricho
Role of Trichoderma used with
methods of cultivation
4.27
5.48
Con.

11. Interaction between variety and
Trichoderma applications

12. Ratooning in SRI: New intervention
3.92
3.25 2.50

13. Integration of SRI in Seed System
 As SRI increase the seed efficiency by more than 80%
(means 4-6 Kg seed is sufficient for 1 ha in SRI while it
required 50-60 Kg in conventional)
 The seed flow is very slow from research to farmers field
(takes around 5-6 years after varietal recommendation)
due to scarcity of nucleus seed
Nucleus
Res. St. (1 yr)
Breeder
( Res. St.
1 yr)
Foundation
(Res. St./seed
producers)
Certified
(seed
producer/F
armers)
Fig: Seed flow System from Research to Farmer’s field

14. Mechanization Options in SRI
 Crop establishment
 Weeding

15. Crop Establishment
Planting in grid is always a challenge in SRI
Earlier, rope was used for marking Wooden rake was then used: not suitable
Drum seeder is promising Roller type marker Rice crank transplanter
is recent introduction

16. Development of mechanical
weeder for SRI in Nepal
 Initially wooden ‘rakes’ with iron pins
were used as weeders for SRI (cost
as little as 25 cents)
 Locally-fabricated rotary weeder was
developed by NARC
 USHA weeder (India) was introduced for
SRI promotion in Nepal

17. Effect of different methods
of weeding for SRI
Methods of
weed control
Yield advantage
cf. herbicides
Rotary weeder (ha) 21%
Hand weeding (ha) 1.65%
Herbicides 0%
Methods of
weed control
Time saving cf.
hand weeding
Rotary weeder (ha) 73%
Hand weeding (ha) 0
Herbicides 92%

18. Problems
 Monsoon-dependent rice farming is
the norm
 Lack of assured sources of irrigation
water during crop establishment and
weeding
 Lack of extra-early rice varieties for
spring-season rice farming
 Low priority in research and extension
is given to SRI
 Lack of sufficient technical know-how
to provide to farmers
 Provision of simple weeding
machines/tools is needed
 Organic matter levels in the soil are
decreasing

19. Way Forward
 Demarcate most suitable areas
for SRI
 Rigorous training is needed
 Mechanization for crop
establishment and weeding
 Focus on seed/seedling priming
with Trichoderma and effective
modes of application
 Organic production of premium-
quality rice landraces with SRI
 Increase soil organic matter --
green manuring, legume
incorporation, etc.
 Document the role of SRI in
climate-change resiliency

20. Summary
1. Integration of SRI with drought tolerance rice varieties and
beneficial microbes could be successfully utilized to address
the emerging challenge of climate change in rice production
system
2. The productivity of high value rice landraces can be
significantly increased by SRI, which can have the great
contribution in reducing poverty in remote part of the
country
3. Ratooning in SRI can help to increase the cropping intensity
by enhancing area of spring season rice
4. Increase of soil organic matter is most essential in SRI
5. Large plot demonstrations of SRI with Trichoderma
integration, use of roller type markers and motorized SRI
weeder in rice super zones would be helpful to increase the
national rice productivity by acceleration of SRI adoption in

21. Thank
You