SRI-AFRICA

The System of Rice Intensification, developed some four decades ago in Madagascar, started receiving international attention only after 2002. As SRI methods have been found repeatedly to evoke more productive and robust rice phenotypes from given genotypes, its use has spread, and the methodology has now been validated in >60 countries. During this process, the practices that apply SRI’s basic principles have been diversified and modified. For example, SRI is now applied for rainfed rice, not only to irrigated cultivation; direct-seeding is becoming an alternative to transplanting for crop establishment. SRI principles have also been extrapolated to other crops, such as wheat, sugarcane, millet, mustard, teff, etc.

This issue will present findings on ways in which SRI concepts are being utilized in diverse environments with modified practices. such as reducing labor requirements through mechanization and improving the production and profitability of crops other than rice. Various objectives are also being served, such as enhancing crops’ resilience to the stresses of climate change, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, increasing the micronutrient content of grain, and conserving crop biodiversity. This issue will thus update understanding and application of the original ideas that constitute SRI, welcoming critical and empirical evaluations of SRI.

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