New System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Video about Nepal

Flooded Cellar Productions, an international film, TV and video production company, together with SRI-Rice at Cornell University, has expanded its series of videos about the System of Rice Intensification with a new video examining the success of SRI in western Nepal.

While SRI spread slowly after its initial introduction to Nepal in 1999, adoption of the methods has has been gaining momentum in the last few years. Filmed in the Kailali District in November 2012, the 12-minute video follows Bed Prasad Upadhyaya, a rice farmer, who was introduced to SRI by a National Agricultural Research Council program. The program, which was developed in connection with European Union Food Facility Project, introduced SRI to select villages, eventually reaching 8,000 farmers. Bed Prasad Upadhyaya was at first hesitant to adopt SRI methods promoted by Ram B. Khadka and others in the project, but was amazed by yields that are double, even triple, what he achieved using traditional methods. With higher yields and fewer inputs, the quality of life and food security of his family has improved dramatically.

A short version of the video is also available.

More Regional Issues of AgriCultures Network Magazines Focus on the System of Rice Intensification (SRI): China and Africa

There are now five regional and global editions of the AgriCultures Network's magazines that have their March issues focused on the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). The latest two of this group of publications that are dedicated to low external input sustainable agriculture are Baobab, an Africa-based magazine, and LEISA China, which is published in Chinese. (The March issues of the previous three, Farming Matters, LEISA India, and the Spanish language Latin American edition, LEISA Revista de Agroecología, have been reviewed in previous posts to our blog.)

水稻强化栽培体 (SRI) 的推广-  Download PDF

This March issue of LEISA China (vol. 7, no. 1) looks at the current use of and debates around System of Rice Intensification (SRI) as it moved from Madagascar to more than 50 countries and from rice to other crops. With the impressive dissemination of SRI, this is a fascinating case study of innovation from below, involving local authorities, "champions", extension agents and millions farmers

SRI: More Rice, Less Water -  Download PDF

Issue 66 of Baobab magazine captures the progressive adoption of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) outside Madagascar, focusing on its introduction, adoption and effectiveness in East Africa. As the quest for technologies that enable more efficient and environmentally friendly agricultural practices has intensified, SRI, which was defined in Madagascar little more than a decade ago, has emerged as a good option.  Although efforts to introduce SRI  have met with some initial resistance of both farmers and the scientific community, the methods still spread from farmer to farmer at an amazing rate and the methods are now well-supported by research. Also covered in this issue is the application of SRI methods to a number of other crops.

LEISA magazine editions about SRI: India and Latin America

From the AgriCultures Network:



LEISA revista de agroecología: El SICA, Un éxito que se expande

This Latin American (Spanish) version of  LEISA, edition 29-1, is devoted to the System of Rice Intensification, called Sistema de Cultivo Intensivo de Arroz (SICA) in Spanish. There are articles from SRI practitioners in Colombia, Peru, Nepal and elsewhere, as well articles of global interest by Willem Stoop, Erika Styger and Jorge Chavez-Tafur.
En esta edición de LEISA 29-1, presentamos experiencias de aplicación del Sistema de Cultivo Intensivo de Arroz (SICA), una tecnología innovadora adoptada con éxito en diferentes países del mundo donde se cultiva este importante cereal.


LEISA India: SRI, A scaling up success

Another version of  the magazine for Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture, LEISA India, is also devoted to SRI (March 2013, volume 15 no.1). Articles cover SRI in India and Nepal as well as articles on extending SRI principles to wheat (SWI) and to sugarcane (SSI). Opinions by leading SRI proponents in India and an interview with Norman Uphoff are also included in this edition.

Farming Matters: SRI - Much more than more rice
The global version of this magazine, Farming Matters, was reviewed during a previous blog post. The March 2013 issue of the magazine (Vol. 29 no. 1) from the AgriCultures Network is entitled "SRI - Much More than More Rice."

SRI - Much More than More Rice

The theme of this month's issue of Farming Matters magazine is the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). Entitled "SRI - more much than more rice," the March 2013 issue of the magazine (Vol. 29 no. 1) includes case studies from several of the 50 countries where the System of Rice Intensification is taking hold. Below is the table of contents, which includes articles about "champions," extension agents, farmers, researchers and others that use, study or promote SRI methods around the world.

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- Editorial - SRI sets farmers free - Edith van Walsum
- Theme overview: SRI – A grass-roots revolution - Edith van Walsum and Willem A. Stoop
- How is SRI evolving, and what are we learning? - Erika Styger
- SRI in Peru: Crazy? Not at all! - Divar Moya Zavaleta
- SRI is something unprecedented - interview with Norman Uphoff by Jorge Chavez-Tafur
- Learning with farmers - Rajendra Uprety
- A visual guide to SRI - Laura Eggens
- Locally rooted: Ideas and initiatives from the field - Ram.B. Khadka, Tareke Berhe, Manuel Sanchez, Asif Sharif
- Beyond higher yields: Advancing agrobiodiversity through SRI - K. Perumal, S. Subhashini, et al.
- SRI in Myanmar: Adoption and adaptation - Pierre Ferrand and Hla Min
- SCI: Planting with space - Hailu Araya, Sue Edwards et al.
- New initiatives, Madagascar and Mali - Alain Oscar
- Opinion: Agro-ecology in action - Rik Thijssen
- SRI in Bihar: From one to 350,000 - Anil Kumar Verma

[Read more about SRI... and access collections of extension materials, videos, presentations, photos and SRI research databases through the SRI-Rice website]

New Video Series on the System of Rice Intensification in Africa

One of five videos in the series

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and SRI-Rice at Cornell University and have teamed up with Flooded Cellar Production, an international film, TV and video production company, to create a series of videos about how the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) spread and is practiced in several areas of Eastern and Southern Africa. The series can be access from the SRI-Rice Africa Video Feature article (http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/news/features/featured0213.html) and the IFAD SRI adoption page.

Based on experiences in IFAD-funded projects in Burundi, Madagascar and Rwanda, the series of videos is about the adoption of SRI by farmers who learned from and teach other farmers like themselves. They demonstrate how to apply the knowledge and the significant benefits it has brought them. The series of five videos is available in English, French and Malagasy languages. (Production in a fourth language, Kirundi, is forthcoming.) [more...]

SRI-RICE CENTER NEWS and System of Rice Intensification Updates

 SRI-Rice Center News
As of 2013, you no longer have to wait for our annual report to see what is happening with SRI-Rice projects, partners, staff and students! The SRI-Rice Center News page is now available on our main website.

SRI-Rice Website Additions 
Every month, we add a lot of material to the SRI-Rice website. Beginning today, we will provide you with a monthly update of the items we either link to or directly upload onto our website. Feel free to check out the fist of these: The January SRI-Rice Website Additions page. A few of the highlights from our January 2013 website additions include:

• Research: links to 16 articles in academic journals (about SRI in Brazil, India, Iran, Korea and Timor Leste, as well as several general articles.)
• Mali: an article in the Cornell Chronicle about an SRI project in Douentza, Mali, that continued to be successful throughout the war between the government and Islamic militant
• India: articles in Indian newspapers about the State of Bihar as well as several farmers winning awards for high yields obtained with SRI
• Afghanistan: an instructional poster for SRI designed for Farmer Field Schools in the 8 provinces in Afghanistan.  (During 2012, 950 farmers participated in 38 FFS put on by the Integrated Pest Management (PIPM) project (FAO and govt. agencies). see the SRI-Rice Afghanistan page for details.]
• Benin: a report on the System of Rice Intensification regional training 11-13 September, 2012 - Kakanitchoé (Ouémé), Rep. of Benin (on the SRI-Rice website)
• Cuba/India: Biksham Gujja's 50p. booklet on SRI principles adapted for sugarcane (SSI) in India has been translated into Spanish by Rena Perez for use in Cuba: SiCAS - Sistema de Caña de Azúcar Sostenible - Produciendo 'Más con Menos'.  (For more on Rena's efforts to promote SSI/SiCAS, see her PowerPoint presented to Cuba's sugarcane professionals last month.)
• Nepal: Two PowerPoint presentations about the System of Wheat Intensification (SWI) in Nepal were sent to us: Ram Khadka's SWI work in Kailalia District (Far Western Nepal) and Debraj Adhikari's SWI efforts in the Sindhuli District of Central Nepal.
• For the complete list of new items for January, go to the SRI-Rice Website Additions page.