SRI Continues to Improve Lives in Zio Prefecture

 

Three years ago, rice farmers from Togo’s Zio Prefecture participated in System of Rice Intensification (SRI) trainings. An article in Togo Breaking News recently followed up with some of the farmers. Padawi Siou (right), one of the first rice producers of Agbélouvé Center to adopt this system after attending trainings through the NGO GRAPHE via the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP), credits SRI with his improved financial conditions. He reports that he is now able to afford to cover cost of his son and nephew to attend university, cover medical expenses, help other family members, and has been able to finance a number of other projects, including a pigsty and a flour mill in his house. Siou is now planning to add a well and other buildings on his land.

GRAPHE technical assistant Kokou Agbeko Tsogbe relayed that despite difficulties during the first year of the trainings in Agbélouvé, 90% of rice producers associated with the Agbélouvé Center have adopted SRI, which now gives an improved return: 4.95 tons of rice per hectare against 2.49 tons per hectare for the conventional method. In Agbélouvé, trainers continue to carry out practical training sessions. Producers have also procured a huller to market a high quality product. Abra Mafili, manager of the processing unit, credits the increase in rice yield to the WAAPP approach in the extending SRI, which is being coupled with the use of drought tolerant seed varieties

for more information on this article: https://togobreakingnews.info/index.php/economie/item/5167-les-bienfaits-du-systeme-de-riziculture-intensive-a-agbelouve