Economic and Ecological Benefits of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in Tamil Nadu

The paper has quantified the benefits of SRI over non-SRI practices of rice cultivation in Tamil Nadu. The SRI practices have been found to save inputs substantially and to increase returns. Higher return has been attributed to increase in production as well as substantial reduction in cost of cultivation. The most impressive are the savings in water (22-39 per cent ) and seed (92 per cent). The organic supplementation due to green manuring and weed incorporation, enhanced soil microbial activities and aeration, use of solar energy and time saving due to early transplantation, are some of the uncommon advantages of SRI. The women employment in specialized operations such as transplanting, harvesting and weedings can lead to gender equity. The estimates of technical efficiency using DEAP has clearly shown that SRI is more technical and economic efficient. Upscaling of SRI strategy will help achieve national as well as household food-security.Agricultural and Food Policy,

SYSTEM OF RICE INTENSIFICATION (SRI) Economic and Ecological Benefits of Improved production practice for Food Security and Resource Conservation

N° ISBN - 978-2-7380-1284-5International audienceBeing the important ingredient of food basket of the common people, the declining productivity of rice and its per capita availability is a policy concern, which has a global connotation. System of rice intensification (SRI) is a relevant innovation, which increases production, reduces yield gap and ensures the household food security for the vulnerable section of small and marginal farmers. It has also tremendous potential for resource conservation; and important aspect for sustainability. The paper attempts to quantify the benefits of SRI and compare its performances with that of conventional practice of cultivation of rice. The relevant information gathered from the state of Tamil Nadu, which is a fore runner in promotion of SRI in India. The four districts of Tamil Nadu representing distinctive features of irrigation system and 58 farmers are selected for the detailed farm survey. Agriculture is dominated by the small farmers having a tiny farm of average size less than 1.4 ha of over 90% of the farmers. Hence, to produce more food from less land and other inputs for livelihood is a necessity. As a pre-requisite of SRI promotion, the farmers' motivation is gauged in a perception survey, which revealed that most of the farmers were aware of SRI, who have perfected its crucial principles. Estimated indicators of success clearly vindicated that the innovative practice has several socio economic as well as bio-physical benefits, including, increase in productivity, input saving and conservation of precious resources. The return to SRI is reasonably high at Rs.14875 per hectare to Rs. 17629 (equivalent US$309 to US$370) across the districts as compared to corresponding figure of Rs.9263 to Rs.14564 (US$192 to US$ 303) under conventional practices. Higher return is attributed to increase in production as well as substantial reduction in cost of cultivation. The most impressive is the savings in water (22% to 39% saving) and seed (as high as 92% saving) resulted to distinctive benefit-cost ratio. The organic supplementation due to compost, green manure and weed incorporation, enhanced soil microbial activities and aeration, often uncounted, the use of solar energy by the plant and time saving due to early transplantation, are some of the uncommon advantages of SRI. The gains to women labour engaged in specialized operations such as transplanting, harvesting and weeding indicate gender equity. In addition, SRI provides opportunity for employment of the idle family labour in rabi (post monsoon) season. The novelty of SRI is that research is inexpensive as the innovation is farmer based and invariant to crop variety (unlike modern method, variety needs not be new and input intensive technology). The estimated technical efficiency using DEAP also clearly show that SRI is more efficient (both in term of TE and economic efficiency). Therefore, having proven tangible benefits, appropriate strategy for upscaling the adoption is a sine-qua-non to achieve sustainable national as well as household food security. The successful models of SRI need to be integrated for generalization. In the changing scenario, given the general acceptance of the practice and willingness to accept, the needed preparedness for implementation of the policy to scale up the adoption will go a long way

Rice Ecosystems and Factors Affecting Varietal Adoption in Rainfed Coastal Orissa: A Multivariate Probit Analysis

Hydrology, Coastal Orissa, Rice, Probit analysis, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q15, Q16,

An Analysis of Farmers’ Perception and Awareness towards Crop Insurance as a Tool for Risk Management in Tamil Nadu

To insulate farmers against risks in agriculture, government has launched several schemes such as National Agricultural Insurance Scheme and weather index based crop insurance schemes. But their coverage seems to be limited among the farmers primarily due to lack of full information. This paper has reported the results of a survey of 600 farmers conducted to assess their perception about various facets of crop insurance schemes. The Probit and Tobit models have been employed to analyse the factors affecting awareness among the farmers. Crop diversification index has also been used to examine the farmers’ adjustment mechanism against risks. The survey has revealed that most farmers (65%) are aware of risk mitigation measures of the government. But, only half of the farmers have been found aware about the crop insurance schemes/products. This implies that there is need to disseminate information about insurance schemes across the target groups. Further, it has been shown that factors such as gross cropped area, income from other than agricultural sources, presence of risk in farming, number of workers in the farm family, satisfaction with the premium rate and affordability of the insurance premium amount significantly and positively influence the adoption of insurance and premium paid by the farmers. The study has clearly brought out the urgency of developing more innovative products, having minimum human interventions.Crop insurance, Risk management, Crop diversification index, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q14, Q18,

Economic and Ecological Benefits of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in Tamil Nadu

The paper has quantified the benefits of SRI over non-SRI practices of rice cultivation in Tamil Nadu. The SRI practices have been found to save inputs substantially and to increase returns. Higher return has been attributed to increase in production as well as substantial reduction in cost of cultivation. The most impressive are the savings in water (22-39 per cent ) and seed (92 per cent). The organic supplementation due to green manuring and weed incorporation, enhanced soil microbial activities and aeration, use of solar energy and time saving due to early transplantation, are some of the uncommon advantages of SRI. The women employment in specialized operations such as transplanting, harvesting and weedings can lead to gender equity. The estimates of technical efficiency using DEAP has clearly shown that SRI is more technical and economic efficient. Upscaling of SRI strategy will help achieve national as well as household food-security

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