THE SYSTEM OF RICE INTENSIFICATION (SRI) AS A BENEFICIAL HUMAN INTERVENTION INTO ROOT AND SOIL INTERACTION

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) was developed in Madagascar in the ealier 1980 by Fr. Henri de Laulanié. Basic principles of SRI are: (1) the transplanting of young seedlings, preferably only 8-12 days old, this conserves the growth potential that rice plants have if they are transplanted before the start of the fourth phyllochron; (2) The young seedlings are transplanted quickly and quite carefully, taking care to minimize any trauma to the roots, also singly and with wide spacing, in a square pattern usually 25 cm x 25 cm, or even farther apart if the soil is fertile; (3) Under SRI management, paddy fields are not kept continuously flooded, instead, mostly aerobic soil conditions are maintained throughout the vegetative growth period, either by adding small amounts of water regularly, or by alternate wetting and drying (AWD); (4) a simple mechanical, soil-aerating weeder is used to control weed growth; (5) Although these methods when used with chemical fertilizer will enhance crop yield, the best yields and greatest cost-saving for farmers are attained with application of organic fertilizer or other organic matter, when available. When SRI practices are used together and as recommended, the following results are common: (1) Grain yields are usually increased by 50-100%, or sometimes more, while water applications are reduced by 30-50% since there is no continuous flooding, straw yields usually also increase, which is an additional benefit to many farmers; (2) The need to use agrochemicals for crop protection is reduced because SRI plants are naturally more resistant to pest and disease damage; (3) With reduced costs of production, including often reduced labor requirements, farmers’ net income is greatly increased with the higher yields; (4) SRI plants are better suited to withstand the effects of climate change, having greater resistance as a rule to most biotic and abiotic stresses; (5) SRI paddy usually gives higher milling out-turn, about 15%, because when milled there is less chaff (fewer unfilled grains) and less breaking of grains. These qualities are probably attributable to the effects of better root systems which can more effectively take up micronutrients from lower soil horizons. Currently, SRI practices has been introduced in many countries with modifications and adaptation to local conditions

Better Technology, Better Plots or Better Farmers? Identifying Changes In Productivity and Risk Among Malagasy Rice Farmers

WP 2003-19 June 2003It is often difficult to determine the extent to which observed output gains are due to a new technology itself, rather than to the skill of the farmer or the quality of the plot on which the new technology is tried. This attribution problem becomes especially important when technologies are not embodied in purchased inputs but result instead from changed farmer cultivation practices. We introduce a method for properly attributing observed productivity and risk changes among new production methods, farmers and plots by controlling for farmer and plot heterogeneity using differential production and yield risk functions. Results from Madagascar show that the new system of rice intensification (SRI) is indeed a superior technology. Although most observed productivity gains appear due to farmer aptitude, the technology alone generates estimated average output gains of more than 37 percent. These findings also help resolve several outstanding puzzles associated with observed low and incomplete uptake and high rates of disadoption of SRI in spite of the technology’s manifest superiority

Better Technology, Better Plots or Better Farmers? Identifying Changes In Productivity and Risk Among Malagasy Rice Farmers

It is often difficult to determine the extent to which observed output gains are due to a new technology itself, rather than to the skill of the farmer or the quality of the plot on which the new technology is tried. This attribution problem becomes especially important when technologies are not embodied in purchased inputs but result instead from changed farmer cultivation practices. We introduce a method for properly attributing observed productivity and risk changes among new production methods, farmers and plots by controlling for farmer and plot heterogeneity using differential production and yield risk functions. Results from Madagascar show that the new system of rice intensification (SRI) is indeed a superior technology. Although most observed productivity gains appear due to farmer aptitude, the technology alone generates estimated average output gains of more than 37 percent. These findings also help resolve several outstanding puzzles associated with observed low and incomplete uptake and high rates of disadoption of SRI in spite of the technology’s manifest superiority

Better Technology, Better Plots, or Better Farmers? Identifying Changes in Productivity and Risk among Malagasy Rice Farmers

We introduce a method for properly attributing observed productivity and risk changes among new production methods, farmers, and plots by controlling for farmer and plot heterogeneity. Results from Madagascar show that the new system of rice intensification (SRI) is indeed a superior technology. Although about half of the observed productivity gains appear due to farmer characteristics rather than SRI itself, the technology generates the estimated average output gains of more than 84%. The increased estimated yield risk associated with SRI would nonetheless make it unattractive to many farmers within the standard range of relative risk aversion. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.