Recent News

System of crop intensification for more productive, resource-conserving, climate-resilient, and sustainable agriculture: experience with diverse crops in varying agroecologies

ABSTRACT With continually increasing demand for food accompanied by the constraints of climate change and the availability and quality of soil and water, the world’s farmers are challenged to produce more food per hectare with less water, and with fewer agrochemical inputs if possible. The ideas and methods of the system of rice intensification which […]

The Principles that Constitute System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and the Practices for Applying them at Field Level Norman Uphoff*

Understanding the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) begins with a distinction between its principles, which are general, and the practices that give effect to these principles when applied, which are and adapted for particular situations. This makes SRI more like a menu than a recipe. It is not something to be promoted by rote learning, […]

Upscaling SRI in Africa to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Rice Paddies

Upscaling SRI in Africa to Reduce GHCs from paddies_Bancy Mati_20-02-2024 [download paper] SRI is a package of practices adopted to improve the productivity of rice grown in paddies, by changing some agronomic practices from conventional practices Some seven components distinguish SRI from conventional flooded paddy practice: 1. Transplant younger seedlings; i.e. at 10 to 14 days […]

Development of a high clearance android-controlled inter-row weeder for rice intensification system

Research was carried out to develop a high clearance inter-row weeder machine with Android control system, to address the challenge of high crop damage associated existing inter-row weeding machines due to low ground clearance under the system of rice intensification. This research was carried out in three main stages namely: Preliminary studies to evaluation of […]

Scaling Up the System of Rice Intensification in 13 West African Countries

RICOWAS, the largest SRI scaling-up project to date, will be implemented over four years in 13 West African countries, starting in January 2023. RICOWAS can be considered a follow-on project to the SRI-WAAPP project, which was implemented from 2014-2016 and reached 50,048 farmers growing rice using the SRI method at 1,088 sites on 13,944 hectares […]

Spreading the system of rice intensification across East and Southern Africa

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a set of good practices that introduces a new way of farming rice to smallholders. By using less seed, land and water, the new system significantly increases yields in most cases, but at the same time intensifies work requirements at some stages. The remarkable results obtained by farmers […]

System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Volunteer Handbook

As an agroecological methodology, SRI provides farmers with a simple, clear, and relatively immediate illustration of the benefits of holistic soil and plant management based on aerobic soils, fertilization with organic matter, and significantly reduced plant densities (80[95% fewer plants in most circumstances).1 Despite the dramatic reduction in plants and the de[emphasis on synthetic inputs, […]

Kenya: Determination of the Effect of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) on Rice Yields and Water Saving in Mwea Irrigation Scheme, Kenya

Irrigated rice cultivation has long been associated with large amounts of water. Currently convectional rice production is faced with major challenges of water shortage as a result of increasing population sharing the same water resources, as well as global environmental changes. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI), as opposed to conventional rice production, involves alternate […]

CHAP Launches SRI/CRRP Climate Resilient Rice Production Training Program in six Counties

Monrovia – The Community of Hope Agriculture Project (CHAP), under the National Executing Entity (NEE-CHAP), is spearheading the Scaling up of Climate Resilient Rice Production Project organized by the Rice Production Improvement Consortium of West Africa (RICOWAS) in Liberia. This initiative, funded by the Adaptation Fund through the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), aims to boost […]

Farmers Empowered through Agroecology Innovations at Practical Workshop in Ofinso

In a significant stride toward promoting sustainable agriculture, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, in collaboration with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI), conducted a successful two-day practical workshop on agroecology and circular economy innovations. Held on September 26th and 27th, the event attracted 58 participants, including farmer association leaders, agriculture […]

Tanzania: Researchers, Extension officers and Rice farmers trained on SRI Principles

Researchers from Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), extension officers and Rice farmers at Ruvu scheme in Chalinze District, Coast Regional and Mkula schemes in Kilombero District, in Morogoro Region have trained on integrated ways of control pests that affect rice farming and benefit of Plant Clinic model as continuation of the training under the project […]

Rice farmers must adapt organic manure for rice cultivation – Noah Nash writes

Soil fertility is crucial for crop growth, primarily due to the presence of organic matter in the soil. While chemical fertilizers have increased plant yields, they have not effectively improved soil health. RICOWAS has successfully introduced the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) initiative in 13 West African countries. This climate-resilient rice production (CRRP) farming system […]