Editorial – SRI sets farmers free

By
25 March 2013

The story of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is an interesting one. It illustrates that relatively simple innovations can make a world of difference. It also shows that the transition to sustainable agriculture is a comprehensive social learning process involving many stakeholders – primarily farmers.

Farming Matters | 29.1 | March 2013

Originating in Madagascar in the 1980s, SRI crossed the ocean to Asia in 1999. We are proud that our magazine was the first outside of Madagascar to publish about SRI, as early as 1999. Today SRI principles are being applied by millions of farmers in over 50 countries, contributing substantially to food security.

Many visionaries, pioneers and champions have worked hard to make this happen. For instance, Ms Manomani, a Dalit woman farmer in South India, realised bumper harvests on her two acres of SRI paddy fields and made national headlines. Dr Yang Saing Koma, an agronomist from Cambodia, received the 2012 Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize, for his pioneering role in agricultural development, notably the introduction of SRI to Cambodia.

Knowledge networks and movements around the world, such as the Farmer Field Schools and agro-ecology movements, have also been catalysts in spreading in spreading SRI, showing their huge value in upscaling agro-ecological approaches. The main credit, however, must go to the millions of farmers who have adopted SRI, adapting and experimenting with it as they go along. They are now harvesting the benefits.

Yet, there are still policy makers and scientists who ignore the evidence of the success of SRI as they find it hard to open their minds to new ways of thinking, or prefer to hold on to vested interests. At the same time, multinationals are promoting a “rice intensification” approach which heavily leans on on the provision of external inputs.

Neither the cynics nor corporate interests can kill the spirit of SRI. It is a convincing example of how small-scale family farmers can develop sustainable practices independent of the research establishment and multinationals. “For me SRI means Merdeka (freedom)”, said Pak Enseng, a small-scale rice farmer in Indonesia. “I get a fair yield and am no longer dependent on buying seeds, chemical fertilizer or pesticides.”

Text: Edith van Walsum
director ILEIA