System of Rice Intensification – A Pro-Poor Option for Food Security
Acknowledging that SRI can result in a high payoff for poor and small farmers, that the SRI process of rice production will cost less and that it has many environmental benefits, Norman Uphoff engages in an untiring campaign to promote SRI around the world
Barah: We are trying to build a detailed database on the area covered under SRI, the total number of farmers who have adopted it and its quantitative impact on India’s food security. We are also looking at the role of SRI as an agro-ecological approach in dealing with the hazards of climate change. There has been much discussion about the introduction of SRI in India, with some skeptics still insisting that there is not enough scientific evidence to justify large-scale efforts. Do you consider the limitations on the supporting data to be a serious deficiency? How important is it to have comprehensive and accurate quantitative data on SRI before proceeding?
Uphoff: The claim that there is ‘not sufficient scientific data’ to support SRI extension is itself contradicted by data. The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has been evaluating SRI methods since 2000, and while there is variation in results—as there is with any agricultural system—I don’t think that there are reservations now at TNAU about spreading knowledge of SRI to Tamil Nadu farmers. See the recent book, System of Rice Intensification: A Synthesis of Scientific Experiments and Experiences, edited by Dr. B.J. Pandian and other faculty at TNAU, Coimbatore.
A n evaluation by TNAU researchers in 2004, with 100 farmers in the Tambiraparani river basin, through on-farm trials, using standard methods and SRI methods on plots one acre each, side by side, showed farmer income per hectare to be $242 and $519, respectively. This more than a doubling of the net income was achieved with 8 percent less labor input per hectare and with less water. Also with less incidence of pests. TNAU, therefore, advised the World Bank to make SRI extension a major