The document discusses the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) program in the Lower Mekong Basin. Key points: - SRI has been implemented across 11 provinces and 33 districts in 4 countries, involving over 15,000 farmers. It has led to improved livelihoods through higher productivity and profits with more efficient water and fertilizer use. - The program is collaborative, involving farmers, researchers, trainers and local consortia across 15 institutions. It uses a participatory action research approach with over 500 farmer sites. - Evaluation shows SRI leads to 52% higher yields, 70% greater profits, and more efficient use of resources, with 16% less greenhouse gas emissions. It provides

1. Innovation
and
Learning
around
the
System
of
Rice
Intensification
(SRI)
in
the
Lower
Mekong
Basin
MISHRA
ABHA
ACISAI,
ASIAN
INSTITUTE
OF
TECHNOLOGY,
PATHUMTHANI,
THAILAND
The
5th International
Rice
Congress,
15-­‐17
October
2018,
Singapore

2. Sustaining
and
Enhancing
the
Momentum
for
Learning
and
Innovation
around
the
System
of
Rice
Intensification
in
Lower
Mekong
River
Basin
(SRI-­‐LMB)
http://www.sri-­‐lmb.ait.asia/
Royal
University
of
Agriculture
National
University
of
Laos
Hanoi
University
of
Agriculture
Rajabhat University
ABHA
MISHRA,
ACISAI,
AIT

3. Key Learnings
1. Improved
livelihoods
(productivity
and
profitability,
labour
productivity)
2. Resource
use
efficiency
(water
productivity,
fertilizer
use
efficiency.
Total
energy
input)
3. Climate
change
mitigation
(GHG
mitigation)
Coverage
Ø Covers
11
provinces
and
33
rainfed districts
Ø >
500
farmers’
participatory
action
research
sites
Ø >
2550
fields
experiments
using
SRI
ideas
Ø >
15,000
farmers
directly
involved
Ø >
15
institutions
involved
SRI:
Transplanting
younger
and
fewer
seedlings/hill
or
direct
seeding
with
low
seed
rate;
Maintaining
wider
spacing;
Avoiding
continuous
soil
saturation;
Applying
compost
as
much
as
possible
ABHA MISHRA,
ACISAI,
AIT

4. Farmers,
trainers,
researchers
work
together
Farmers
Researcher
Trainers
Local
consortia
Ministry
Farmers
group
Regional
consortium
ABHA MISHRA,
ACISAI,
AIT

5. 4th post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
3rd
post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
2nd
post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
1st
post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
4th post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
3rd
post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
2nd
post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
1st
post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
4th post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
3rd
post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
2nd
post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
1st
post
FFS
site
(2
FT)
FPAR
sites
FPAR
sites
FPAR
sites
Farmers
Participatory
Action
Research
Implementation
structure
at
local
level
Each
province
has
three
districts
and
each
district
has
4
FPAR
sites

6. Crop
management
practices
Conventional
practices
(CP-­‐Baseline)
SRI-­‐Transition
(SRI-­‐T)
SRI-­‐Demonstration
(SRI-­‐D)
Seedling
age 40-­‐60
day-­‐old
(established
by
baseline)
39-­‐20
day-­‐old 8-­‐19
day-­‐old*
(8-­‐15 day-­‐old for
Cambodia
and
Thailand)
Seed
rate 100-­‐150
kg/ha 20-­‐30%
less
than
CM 5-­‐20
kg/ha
Transplanting
spacing
Crowded,
10
x
10
cm 10
x
15
to 19
x
19
cm 20
x
20
– 30
x
30
cm
or
more
Planting/hill >5-­‐6 4-­‐5
seedlings/hill 1-­‐3
seedlings/hill
Soil
condition
Flooded
(or
no
effort
in
maintaining
aerobic
soil
condition
Relatively
aerobic
soil
condition
with
respect
to
CM
either
through
shallow
water
level
or
through
intermittent
drying
Maintaining
aerobic
soil
condition
at
least
for
a
week
during
tillering
stage
6
u Three
treatments
and
4
replications
(minimum)
for
each
experiment
u Data
collection
and
analysis
(average)
by
farmers
at
three
growth
stages
(tillering,
flowering,
and
harvesting)
u Data
recorded
by
farmers
using
farmers
diary
u Data
were
compiled
by
district
trainer
and
subsequently
by
provincial
coordinator
Design
and
data
handling
at
field
level
Different
sets
of
practices
applied
at
farmers’
fields
ABHA MISHRA,
ACISAI,
AITABHA
MISHRA,
ACISAI,
AIT

7. System Architecture
Query Data
INTERNET
Input Data
Download Output File
Save data into DB
ABHA MISHRA,
ACISAI,
AIT 7
Data
handling
at
country
and
regional
level

8. SRI:
Developing
climate-­‐smart
practices,
addressing
food
security
and
achieving
sustainable
development
goal
üSRI
has
demonstrated
that
it
is
a
high
yielding,
climate-­‐
smart,
low
cost
practices
with
higher
factor
productivity
(land,
labors,
water,
chemicals,
and
seed).
üSRI
can
lead
the
way
to
poverty
reduction
and
can
make
smallholder
farming
attractive,
efficient,
and
smart
ü With
SRI,
the
economic
productivity
is
higher
in
rainfed
areas
compared
to
irrigated
areas
üCollective
action
is
needed
by
farmers'
organization
to
capture
the
economies
of
scale
and
to
commercialize
the
rainfed agriculture
and
sustain
the
benefits
ü National
and
international
actors
including
private
sectors’
support
would
be
needed
to
support
this
development
70
%
Net Return
64
%
Labor
Efficiency
52
%
Yield
59
%
Water
productivity
70
%
Fertilizer Use
-­‐30
%
Energy use
SRI-­‐LMB
‘Growing
more
Using less’
SRI has already been validated by
over 60 countries and has proved to
environmentally and socially
sustainable way to improve the
livelihood of farmers.
16%
less
GHH
reduction
ABHA MISHRA,
ACISAI,
AIT

9. Contributors
9
q 15,000
farmers
q 77
ministries
staffs
q 16
researchers
q 30
project
staffs
q MOE,
Thailand;
MAF,
Lao
PDR;
MAFF,
Cambodia;
MARD,
Vietnam
q Rajabhat University,
Thailand;
Royal
University
of
Agriculture,
Cambodia;
Hanoi
University
of
Agriculture,
Vietnam;
Nabong College
of
Agriculture,
Lao
PDR
q FAO,
Oxfam,
SRI-­‐Rice
Cornell
University
USA;
University
of
Queensland,
Australia;
ACISAI,
AIT
q European
Union
Visit SRI-LMB at: http://www.sri-lmb.ait.asia/
http://www.acisai.ait.asia/
Programme summary at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu4f1JXOT9c&feature=youtu.be