SRI in Bihar: From one to 350,000

Farmers in Bihar were initially sceptical when they heard about the System of Rice Intensification, five years ago. Only one farmer decided to try it. From then, first by word of mouth and now with government support, SRI has gone from strength to strength. In 2012, Bihar had some 335,000 hectares of SRI paddy and … Read more

Learning takes various forms…

Last year, West Africa faced a devastating food crisis, triggered by insufficient and erratic rains. The underlying causes include a systematic depletion of the soils, worsened by climate change. Many families and communities have taken their fate into their own hands. In Burkina Faso, women’s groups supported by the local NGO Association Nourrir Sans Detruire … Read more

Globally connected: News from the AgriCultures Network

Our partner organisations are widely known for the regional editions of this magazine, from AGRIDAPE to LEISA China. Yet there is much more going on, with many different initiatives for disseminating information and exchanging ideas and opinions. AME: From essays to apps In early 2013 the AME Foundation joined the smartphone era with the new … Read more

SRI MUCH MORE THAN RICE

Farming Matters | 29.1 |March 2013The 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.This issue of Farming Matters  publish articles about … Read more

New initiatives, Madagascar and Mali

The System of Rice Intensification was originally developed in Madagascar from the 1960s onwards, with the practices being integrated in the 1980s. Its acceptance has been slow in its country of origin, however today, as in many other countries throughout the world, new initiatives are emerging. More people are promoting SRI, and more farmers are … Read more

SCI: Planting with space

The use of finger millet seedlings has shown very positive results in the region of Tahtai Maichew, near Aksum, Ethiopia, as has the use has the use of alternative management practices for a number of other crops. The principles that make up a System of Crop Intensification are now spreading through the regions of Tigray … Read more

Enhancing agrobiodiversity through SRI

A key goal of the joint Hivos/Oxfam Novib Knowledge Programme, Agrobiodiversity@knowledged, is to share knowledge and experience about farming practices from all over the world that use and enhance agricultural biodiversity. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is usually promoted as a successful approach for increasing productivity and decreasing costs. The Centre for Indian Knowledge … Read more

Learning from farmers

It was an afternoon of 2002 when I first read about SRI. As an extension officer in the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO), I started promoting SRI in the following years in the district of Morang, Nepal. Over this time I observed hundreds of attractive SRI fields and spent some years as a SRI activist. … Read more

“SRI is something unprecedented”

Norman Uphoff, Professor Emeritus of Government and International Agriculture at Cornell University, served as director of the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development (CIIFAD) from 1990 to 2005. During this time he became acquainted with the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in Madagascar, and realised that “something unusual was going on” as farmers … Read more

A visual guid to SRI

The World Bank Institute (WBI) developed the multimedia toolkit “Achieving more with less: A new way of rice cultivation” to illustrate knowledge and techniques on SRI. The toolkit was developed from an experience with SRI in the Philippines in 2007, where farmers piloted the approach within their specific socio-environmental conditions, with very encouraging results in … Read more