AFGHANISTAN: Raising Yields with the System of Rice Intensification

According to the Aga Khan Foundation - Afghanistan (AKF-A) SRI final report for 2011, 114 farmers, including seven resource persons (RP) and twenty new volunteers, have been applying System of Rice Intensification methods for rice cultivation in two districts of Baghlan and Takhar provinces, as part of the Participatory Management of Irrigation Systems (PMIS) project, managed by AKF. The project is part of the larger government-led Panj-Amu River Basin Program (PARBP), which is funded by the European Union.

In both districts (Doshi in Baghlan Province and Taloqan in Takhar Province), the average results clearly show a net improvement in SRI yield compared to the yield with the traditional practices (10.01 t/ha with SRI vs. 5.04 t/ha with traditional methods -- an average combined yield increase of + 49.65% for both districts.)

You can read more about SRI progress in Afghanistan in this week's Featured Item on the SRI-Rice website.

Paddy and Water Environment Journal Publishes Special Edition on SRI

The journal Paddy and Water Environment has devoted its March 2011 issue (Volume 9, Number 1) to the System of Rice Intensification. For those who are interested in learning more about the science behind SRI as well as how SRI is progressing in various areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America, the March issue of the journal is online through SpringerLink. Included are six articles and nine technical reports from Afghanistan, China, the Gambia, Kenya, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Mali,  Pakistan, Panama, and Thailand as well as several review articles.

To see journal articles from other sources published during 2011, visit the journal articles page on our SRI-Rice website.

New SRI Items for January 2011

Afghanistan
Ali Mohammad Ramzi's excellent  seasonal report for 2010  for Aga Khan Foundation's Participatory Management of Irrigation Systems Project (PMISP) reviews progress in introducing SRI methods in northeastern Afghanistan.

Pakistan
Asif Sharif has recently uploaded a short video on YouTube called FarmAll Organic Rice Production using SRI Technology.  It details FarmAll's experiences in mechanizing the System of Rice Intensification in Pakistan. FarmAll Technology developed a system to produce organic rice using 70% less inputs including water while increasing yield from 40 to 400% (depending upon which reference is used for comparison).

 Timor Leste
Martin, Noltz,  Stefan Schwarze and Matin Qaim have recently published an article in the Pacific News (35:4-9) entitled  Knowledge-Based Agricultural Innovations in Asia: The System of Rice Intensification(SRI) in Timor Leste.

Indonesia
 The January edition of Time Out Jakarta, a magaine in Indonesia, includes an article about Emily Sutanto, an organic SRI exporter (see Inside Indo's organic rice.)

Malaysia 
A new Malay language SRI blog is now recording the efforts of several SRI projects in Malaysia: See Weblog Padi Selangor.
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Articles from the from the Indian Press (January)

• Dalit MLA is Bihar CM's 'rice' choice
  Jan. 31, 2011, India Today (Bihar, India)
• ‘Rajarajan 1000' well suited for late samba crops
  Jan. 20, 2011, The Hindu (Tamil Nadu, India) [SRI is called 'Rajarajaran 1000' in Tamil Nadu]
• WB-funded irrigation project emphasises on effective use of water for farming
  Jan. 13, 2011, The Times of India (Tamil Nadu, India)
• Rs. 1,731.53 crore PLC planned for Thanjavur
  Jan. 5, 2011, The Hindu (Tamil Nadu, India)

Update on SRI in Afghanistan

Some initial attempts to introduce the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) into Afghanistan were made as early as 2003, but sustained efforts began only in 2007 when the NGO German Agro-Action (GAA) and the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) began working with the methods in northern Afghanistan. Recently we have received a 2009 seasonal report from AKF which will interest many readers.
The first AKF trials were planted one month later than the usual rice crop, and given the short growing season at high altitudes, yield was lower than regular methods, although the SRI tillering was impressive – enough so that six farmers did proper comparison trials in 2008, and their average yield as measured by AKF technicians was a remarkable 10.1 t/ha. This was enough to spark greater interest among farmers.
In 2009, 42 farmers applied SRI methods to rice cultivation in 3 districts of Baghlan and Takhar provinces, including 7 farmers with SRI experience who functioned as resource persons (RPs), each working with 5 new volunteers. The on-farm comparison trials were carried out with supervision from the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF)-managed Participatory Management of Irrigation Systems (PMIS) project, which is part of the larger government-led Panj-Amu River Basin Program (PARBP) funded by the EU.
Although an unreported number of other farmers dropped out of the evaluation because of Taliban threats, 42 managed their crops through to harvest, with average SRI yields of 9.3 t/ha, 66% more than their yields with traditional methods, 5.6 t/ha. Experienced farmers (those in their second year of trials) increased their land size under SRI and got 27% higher SRI yield compared to their first-year SRI yields.
The AKF-Afghanistan program, in addition to its 2009 SRI report, has prepared an excellent practical manual, available on CIIFAD's SRI website in the Afghanistan section. SRI activities by German Agro Action (GAA), CIIFAD and others are also noted on the country website.