LABOR, LIQUIDITY, LEARNING, CONFORMITY AND SMALLHOLDER TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION: THE CASE OF SRI IN MADAGASCAR

Although rice accounts for approximately forty-four percent of land under cultivation and forty-six percent of caloric intake in Madagascar, most farmers cannot produce enough rice to feed their families. Total rice production increased little in the country during the 1990s, and yields were stagnant and well below world average yields. Because of the importance of rice for both family income and nutrition and because of the significant role upland rice cultivation plays in deforestation in Madagascar, intensification of lowland rice production has been a major focus of many development interventions. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a method that has been promoted and closely followed in Madagascar for more than ten years. SRI is remarkable for its dramatic increases in yields achieved without external inputs. While the method is more labor intensive, the doubling or even tripling of yields would appear to make the method extremely profitable. Despite its apparent potential and intensive extension efforts in some areas, adoption rates have generally been low, and the average rate of disadoption (the percentage of households who have tried the method and who no longer practice it) for study area was 40 percent. Using survey data from five communities in Madagascar, a sample selection model and a probit model were used to study three related choices farmers must make concerning the SRI. The first is whether to try the method, and then, conditional on having tried the method a farmer must decide how much of his lowland rice area to put in the SRI. Finally, for all subsequent years, a farmer must decide whether to continue using the method. While many adoption studies have looked at the role of liquidity and labor, few have done so in a dynamic setting. We take advantage of reliable recall data and NGO records on technology use to construct a panel data set, which was used to analyze the effects of learning, labor, liquidity, and social benefits over a five-year period. Learning has been the focus of several recent adoption studies, but this study tries to separate the learning effects from the effects of compliance with authority figures and with social and cultural norms. The results show that planting-season labor and liquidity constraints are extremely important factors in the adoption decisions of Malagasy farmers. Although the method is low-external input, the poorest farmers are not able to take advantage of the technology. This result is very important for development policy-makers in Madagascar who have often seen rice intensification as the most important means by which to alleviate rural poverty in Madagascar.Farm Management,

Farmer Innovations Improving the System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI), assembled in Madagascar over a 20-year period and gaining applicationinternationally since 2000, enables farmers to raise their irrigated rice production substantially just by making changes in theway they manage their plants, soil, water and nutrients, rather than by increasing inputs such as fertilizer, water oragrochemicals. Getting more output with less cost enhances profitability. This result is quite unprecedented, as discussed inpaper accompanying this one. SRI is not considered by its proponents as a technology; and by not presenting it to farmers asa set technology, this opens SRI up to many adaptations and innovations by farmer-users, who often but not always arecollaborating with NGO or government staff in a collaborative manner. This paper reports on a number of the innovations thathave been made in SRI practices, demonstrating bothfarmer capabilities and the advantages of engagingfarmers as partnersin an ongoing process of participatory development. The companion paper which considers SRI as a system for innovationoffers a more 'macro' view of SRI spread that complements this more 'micro' perspective

THE SYSTEM OF RICE INTENSIFICATION (SRI) AS A SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI). developed in Madagascar some 25 years ago. is gaining increasing credence and momentum as probably 500.000 farmers in more than 20 countries are now using its methods to raise their rice. production -- while also reducing their use of external inputs and production costs. Rather than focus on the innovation itself, this paper will introduce SRI only briefly, focusing instead on the transnational system for innovation that has emerged in response to this agronomic opportunity that can be particularly beneficial for resource-limited households. Within SRI's conceptual and practical framework. farmers have devised many innovations. These are the focus of a parallel paper written for this workshop. That paper considers how farmers have made the original SRI methodology less labor-intensive (even labor-saving). and how they have extended methods devised for irrigated rice production both to unirrigated (rainfed) areas for growing rice and to other crops beyond rice. This paper is concerned with what can be considered as a de facto 'system of innovation' that surrounds and has accelerated the spread of SRI worldwide. SRI has differed from most other agricultural innovations in the extent to which farmers have voluntarily invested their own time and resources in taking SRI to peers as an impressive example of farmer-to-farmer extension. Also. innovative alliances have formed among diverse persons and organizations to disseminate and adjust the methodology. thereby supporting the spread of this innovation even despite resistance from some established institutions

Effect of Variety, Seed Rate and Row Spacing on the Growth and Yield of Rice in Bauchi, Nigeria

Field experiments were conducted at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Fadama Farm Bauchi, during the rainy seasons of 2006 and 2007 to study the effects of variety, seeding rate and row spacing on growth and yield of rice. Two varieties of rice; Ex – China (Indigenous and upland/lowland) and NERICA-1 (improved and upland), three seeding rates (32, 54 and 75 kg/ha) and four row spacings (15, 20, 25 and broadcast) were used during the study. The treatments were combined and laid in a split – split plot design with three replications. Variety was placed in the main plot, seeding rate in the sub plot while row spacing was placed in sub –sub plot. Data were collected on parameters such as plant height, number of tillers per plant, spikes per hill, spikelets per spike and number of seeds per spike, seed weight per hill, 1000 grain weight and yield kg ha-1 and analyzed using analysis of variance procedure for split – split plot and significant differences among the treatment means were separated using the Duncan multiple range test (DMRT). Variety Ex-China produced significantly (P<0.05) higher numbers of tillers per plant and spikes per hill. However, NERICA-1 produced significantly (P<0.05) higher numbers of spikelets per spike, seeds per spike, weight of seed per spike, weight of seed per hill, 1000 grain weight and yield in kg ha-1 than Ex-China. Row spacings of 15, 20 and 25cm also had significant effects on the number of tillers per plant, number of spikes per hill, number of spikelets per spike, number of seeds per spike, weight of seed per spike, weight of seed per hill, 1000 grain weight and yield kg ha-1 over the control. From the factors studied, seeding rate did not show any significant difference during the two years of investigation. Interactions were also observed among the factors studied. Therefore, row spacings irrespective of the method used, or hole planting of rice could be more appropriate for optimum grain yield.Key words: Seed rate, Row spacing, Spike

Water-wise Rice Production

Rice is a profligate user of water. It takes 3,000–5,000 liters to produce 1 kilogram of rice, which is about 2 to 3 times more than to produce 1 kilogram of other cereals such as wheat or maize. Until recently, this amount of water has been taken for granted. Now, however, the water crisis threatens the sustainability of the irrigated rice ecosystem. In Asia, 17 million ha of irrigated rice areas may experience ‘physical water scarcity’ and 22 million ha ‘economic water scarcity’ by 2025. To safeguard food security and preserve precious water resources, ways must be explored to grow rice using less water. IRRI, together with Plant Research International of Wageningen University and Research Centre, organized a thematic workshop on Water-Wise Rice Production held 8-11 April 2002 at IRRI, Los Baños, Philippines. The objectives were to present and discuss the state-of-the-art in the development, dissemination, and adoption of water-saving technologies at spatial scales ranging from the field to irrigation system. This book contains the papers presented at the workshop

MODEL GERAKAN NITROGEN PADA BUDIDAYA PADI (Oryza sativa) DENGAN METODE SRI (System Of Rice Intensification)

Nitrogen is an essential macro nutrient for the plant growth. Fertilization is one of the method to added nitrogen for plant nutrition. Therefore, an efficient fertilization is important to the rice cultivation.This study aimed to describe nitrogen distribution and availability in root zone of rice plant under System of Rice Intensification (SRI). This study was conducted in the screenhouse of Biophysics Laboratory, Faculty of Agricultural Technology UGM. Silt loam soil was used for plant media and rice variety (IR-64) was planted on the experimental pot with size of 30 x 30 cm2 and 40 cm height. Experiments were conducted in two irrigation method : conventional and minimum water standing of the system of rice intensification (SRI) and two fertilization methods : organic and chemical fertilizer combined with manure. Movement of nitrat  was  observed based its movement in the root zone. Mathematical modelling was also applied through prediction of nitrate concentrations. This study resulted that  concentration and distribution of nitrate in the different root zone (5 cm and 15 cm) was not significantly different. Combination fertilization with the depth of 15 cm, resulted that nitrate availability pattern between flooded irrigation and water efficient irrigation system shows a coincide pattern. The prediction result of nitrate concentration shows a tendency that is similar to the observation result of nitrate concentration.Nitrogen merupakan unsur hara makro yang esensial bagi pertumbuhan tanaman. Salah satu upaya penambahan nitrogen bagi tanaman adalah melalui pemupukan. Oleh karena itu, metode efisiensi pemupukan sangat penting dalam budidaya padi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan model gerakan NO3- dalam zona perakaran tanaman padi sistem SRI (System of Rice Intensification). Penelitian dilakukan di screen house Fakultas Teknologi Pertanian UGM. Tanah bertekstur silty loam digunakan untuk media tanaman dan varietas IR-64 ditanam pada pot percobaan berdiameter 30 cm dan tinggi 40 cm. Eksperimen dilakukan dengan dua cara metode irigasi : irigasi konvensional dan System of Rice Intensification (SRI) dan dua cara pemupukan : pupuk organik dan kimia yang dikombinasikan dengan pupuk kandang. Gerakan NO3- diamati berdasarkan pergerakan di zona perakaran. Analisis gerakan NO3- dilakukan dengan menggunakan model matematika melalui prediksi konsentrasi nitrat. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa dua perlakuan irigasi pada kedalaman 5 cm dan 15 cm tidak mengalami perbedaan yang signifikan. Pada perlakuan dengan pemupukan kombinasi kedalaman 15 cm pola ketersediaan nitrat antara irigasi tergenang dan macak-macak menunjukkan pola yang berimpit. Konsentrasi nitrat hasil prediksi menunjukkan kecenderungan mirip dengan konsentrasi nitrat pengamatan