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.

Research Articles on SRI in India.... And Elsewhere

SRI-Rice at Cornell University has put together a bibliography of research articles about the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in India. We have collected over 100 articles (nearly all from scientific journals)  from India that were published between 2004 and 2012. The chronological collection can be found on our SRI-rice website at  http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/countries/india/research/. Articles from India make up about a third of the 300+ SRI journal articles we have collected from around the world. (Unfortunately, less than 30 of these appear to be freely available to the public through the internet; the rest are locked up in subscription sites -- though happily the abstracts are generally available.  A red dot on a title indicates the free ones so that people won’t be frustrated by trying to open them.)

 In addition to the static chronological list of Indian SRI journal articles, these items are also available in our RefWorks India research database with  searchable metadata (including abstracts). (The RefWorks database site DOES have some non-journal items as well while the chronological list does not).

Worldwide Resources
In addition to the above resources on Indian research, we maintain a chronological  list of SRI research from all countries as well as a searchable global database (with abstracts and other metadata). Both of these are  accessible from the research section of our SRI-Rice website. (Remember to click on the “view button” to access complete metadata and the WorldCat button to find the nearest library that has the resource).

If you know of any articles that we have missed, don't hesitate to send us note at sririceATcornell.edu... or you can add them to the comments box below.....