System of Rice Intensification: a review

The system of Rice intensification acronym as (SRI) was developed in the last two decades is an effort to find sustainable agricultural practices that can lead to higher productivity, optimum use of capital labour, less input cost and less requirement of water. SRI, harmonizes the elements of soil, water, light and plant, it allowed the plants to achieve their fullest potential. Normal broadcasting of rice on the farm consumes 100Kg/ha-1 while planting required 30-60Kg seeds per hectare. In SRI only 4-10Kg of seeds is required per hectare. Farmers were inclined to accept (and participate in) a recommended practices since the practice is profitable, compatible with existing farming practices, simple to use, relevance to their labour use, farm inputs marketing, credit, community values and crop situation. SRI is found to be an integrated agro-ecologically sound approach to irrigated rice. It is also a designer innovation that efficiently uses scarce resources and protects ground water from chemical pollution and more dependent to poor farmers. Single seedling per hill. Seedlings are recommended to be transplanted within 15- 30minutes after uprooting in a shallow depth of 1-2cm deep with a recommended spacing of 25x 25cm2 or more depending the soil fertility. About 25-50 % of water is saved in system of rice intensification. There were more tillers in SRI plants, having 35-50, even 80-100 or more compared to common ones with 5-10. Number of tillers/plant and number of grains/panicle (fertile tillers) were also higher in the method. SRI, was found to benefit farmers more in terms of more income with less input, given higher yield with lower investment and beneficial to poorer households. Crops mature sooner 10-20days, compared with conventional ones. There is less economic risk and creates better environment for rice and lowers the risk of environmental friendliness as little or no chemical fertilizer is required. With all these merits, it has some draw backs such as where areas are not kept continuously flooded, weeds presents problems. It is labour demanding and is considers labour intensive for many farmers. However, farmers are more comfortable with and skilled with SRI. Yield was also found to be higher in SRI with 8t/ha-1 as against 3/ha-1 under conventional paddy. Therefore, the system of rice intensification is the best option for rice production in order to meet up with the demand of the increasing population. Keywords: System of rice intensification, fertile tillers, chemical pollution.

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