On-farm testing of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in lowlands ecology in Niger

 

 

An article by Haougui Adamou et al in the Journal of Research Biology presents results of on-farm testing of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in lowlands ecology in Niger. The research aimed at evaluating practices of SRI in the lowland agroforestry ecologies with irrigated rice. On-farm testing was conducted in three regions – Tahoua, Zinder and Dosso. SRI practices in these regions were compared to conventional rice production system by forty-five producers. Variables compared included tillers production and paddy yield. Results showed clearly that relative to conventional practice, SRI methods increases tiller production by 45% and paddy yield by 58.2%. Furthermore, results showed that 55.5% of producers implemented thoroughly SRI methods, and 11% of producers applied them moderately. Despite their moderate usage of SRI methods, the latter group of producers also got promising gain on their investment. The authors suggest that scaling-up SRI practices in lowlands ecologies of Niger has a high potential of increasing returns to rice growers.