1. NATIONAL CONSORTIUM ON SRI
Annual SDTT Partners’ Meet
Gaya
January 23-25, 2012

2. SRI Heralding Change
Making significant
difference in –
smallholder farms &
livelihoods in rainfed
areas

3. SRI an Agro-ecological innovation - benefits
• SRI gives 20–90 % more rice from same piece of land
• Higher net incomes (86 – 165 %)
• Lower costs (11 – 20 %), less labour use after acquired skill
• Sustainable NRM: SRI uses 22–72 % less water,
• Reduced dependency on external inputs
– seeds (less by 80 – 90 %), fertilizers, pesticide
• Climate change resilience & adaptability (drought tolerance,
resistance to storm, reduced pest damage, limited data even in
GHG emission)
• Conserving of Biodiversity (even indigenous varieties respond well)
• SRI is ‘Pro-poor’ – auto fit for small and marginal farmers who
operate on own labour

4. SRI in Other Crops: Innovation spillover
WHEAT RAJMA SUGAR CANE
MAIZE FINGER MILLET SOY BEAN

5. Major SRI Actors in India
CSOs PSI, CWS, SPWD, WASSAN, AME, ASA, AKRSP,
PRADAN
GOVERNMENT NFSM, IAMWARM (WORLD BANK), MPRLP,
AGENCIES BRLPS – JEEVIKA, SAUs, KVKs, DRD, STATE
GOVTs – TN, AP, TRIPURA, BIHAR, JHARKHAND
RESEARCH DRR, CRRI, DWM, TNAU, IARI
AGENCIES
DONORS SDTT, NABARD, WWF, AKF
OTHERS CIIFAD, IWMI, IDS, WUR, XIMB
NETWORKS BANGLAR SRI, AP SRI CONSORTIUM, ORISSA
LEARNING ALLIANCE, LIVOLINK
PRIVATE USHA MARTIN, WEEDER MANUFACTURERS
SECTOR

6. SRI- substantial coverage
Today an estimated three
million farmers in not less
than a million hectares
have adopted SRI partially
or fully in India
SRI map draft Aug 2010
ICRISAT

7. Time to scale up
• SRI/SCI has achieved significant scale in a relatively
short period of time
• Need to scale up further to really make an impact on
issues of food security
• About 13 m ha of rice production area where SI scale
up immediately possible; even a ton of extra
production can make millions food secure
• This needs paradigm shift in policies, streamlining
and strengthening practice and deepening research
to inform practice

8. Advocacy, SRI upscaling and Genesis of NCS
Date Activity
Nov-2006 1st National SRI Symposium at Hyderabad
Oct-2007 2nd National Symposium at Agartala
Dec-2008 3rd National Symposium at Coimbatore
Feb-2009 SRI scaling up - future directions meeting at ICRISAT
May-2009 Planning Commission consultation at ANGRAU, Hyderabad
Dec-2009 Policy meeting on SRI at Delhi, PRADAN, NFSM
Mar-2010 Presentation to NABARD and SDTT by SRI expert review team
Apr-2010 Proposal discussion by SRI group with NFSM
May-2010 SRI meeting in Madagascar, attended by some NCS members
Jun-2010 Proposal submitted by NABARD to NFSM for SRI coverage through NGOs
Jul-2010 NRMC holds national conference on SRI
Jul-2010 National SWI workshop; AP SRI consortium formed
Oct-2010 National SRI Consortium meeting organized by PRADAN & NCAP
Dec-2010 Planning Commission 12th plan consultation on food security Hyderabad
Dec-2010 National SRI workshop, WWF Hyderabad
Feb-2011 SCI workshop at Patna, Bihar
Mar-2011 Round Table on SRI at IARI arranged on behalf of NCS, SRI Mela
Jul-Oct -11 Participation by NCS members in different PC Working Groups
Oct -2011 NCS officially launched, post meeting at XIMB
Nov –2011 SWI Trial at IARI
Regular state‐level workshops/ learning alliances in Orissa, Bengal, Uttarakhand, AP, etc

9. Shifting to SRI means..
• Reorientation of farmers in rice agronomy
– Nursery management (farmer)
– Organic matter addition and soil health improvement
– Land preparation: leveling and marking (farmer)
– Timely inter-cultivation (weeding ) (farmer + labor)
– Water management (farmer + moisture conservation)
– Management of pests and diseases / agro-ecological knowledge
• New farm management routines & knowledge transfer
– Reorientation in skills
– New transplantation methods
– Mechanical weeding, in place of manual weeding
• Ensuring control on moisture
– Better irrigation systems management where it exists
– Directing investments (through convergence) to soil moisture
conservation

10. Shift in focus on extension required
Parameter Conventional From CSO Experience
Approach Scattered demonstrations Blocks or contiguous areas /
and focus (0.4 ha per 100 ha) clusters of villages
Extension Agri-extension departments Farmer / community-led extension
strategy & scientific establishment
Incentives input-centric, input subsidy- Confidence & skill-building of
led extension; farmer field farmers; labor support and skilling of
schools to a limited extent labor; farmer field schools and
investments on facilitation
Support Correcting the nutrient Correcting and conserving soil
deficiencies health
equipment Centrally-supplied – one type De-centralized – locally suitable
for all areas design; custom hiring center

11. Long term strategy for SRI scale up
• Transform selected areas into sustainable SRI hubs
over a period of time
• Paradigm shift from conventional demonstration
approach to an area focused approach
• Lobby for convergence to attract investments in
natural resource management
• Adopt a cluster based strategy to address issues of
knowledge and behavioral changes in farmers
• Changes and adaptations to be embedded/ habituated
into local economies.
• Enhancing the economic status of the rice farmer

12. Main challenges for policy on SRI
• Re-orienting farmers towards management and increasing
farmer knowledge on rice agro-ecology
• Mobilise investments for SRI scale –up from different sources –
MGNREGA, NFSM, NABRD, RKVY and so on
• Converge investments for developing land and water resources
in large scale
• Establishing decentralised manufacturing of SRI implements
and appropriate distribution system
• Build up cadres of SRI resource farmers
• Mobilise organic matter and resources for improving soil
productivity
• Establish research back-up and support
• Investments not just for inputs, implements and training, but
for a new institutional architecture

13. Institutional Architecture for upscaling innovation
(suggested for SRI)
Streams 1&2: Ministry (DAC, RD), NARS (KVK & SAU)
Policy
formulation Stream 3: Autonomous agencies SERP, BRLPS etc. FUND
Stream 4: NABARD through NGOs
Stream 5: Corporate, NGOs (through donors) …
R&D and policy
inputs/ Technology
Capacity building
National State level Resource Org support role
Consortium on (SRO; knowledge body)
SRI
Dept of Ag (MoA),
DOA/KVK CSO/ NGOs CBOs
R&D Org.,
Universities,
donors, innovation Master Trainers
brokers, farmers etc Village Resource Persons
Monitoring/ Grassroot Farmer Groups/FFS/SHG
Feedback Loop
FARMERS

14. The National Consortium on SRI
• A collective of individuals, organizations and networks engaged in
promoting SRI at various levels.
• An inclusive association of like-minded individuals. and an open ended
network
• No fixed membership, encourages voluntary participation, involvement
and engagement with SRI and agro-ecological innovations
• NCS seeks to facilitate interaction and encourage learning and sharing
amongst its members through multiple means – meetings, seminars,
collaborative research, web-site and other learning events and
processes
• Build on and complement efforts of existing and upcoming networks
and processes of cross learning

15. Objectives of NCS
• Enhance scientific understanding of SRI through
– Establishing a research network for sharing and learning about the science of SRI
– Encouraging collaborative research; both experimental (research station) and on-farm
research (Farmers fields) on SRI and its principles
– Building partnership with national and international research agencies, individuals, and
networks
• Improve our understanding of the cultivation practice by
– Development of SRI machinery and small farmers oriented implements.
– Collaboration with members to develop relevant research and development agenda on
other contemporary issues of SRI
– facilitating and supporting establishment of knowledge sharing platforms at national
and state levels
– Documentations of comprehensive compendium of farmers’ experiences, programs,
research and publication etc.
• Promote policy engagement at national level
– Synthesizing recommendations of various Sub-Groups on SRI for the XII Five year plan
– To organize interface meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture, NABARD and other
agencies at National and State level
– Supporting large scale mainstream experiences on promotion of SRI in collaboration/
convergence with Government programs

16. Organisations in Consortium
• CSOs at field level are at the forefront of extension – PSI,
PRADAN, AKRSP, Orissa Learning Alliance, Banglar SRI, etc.
• Govt. agencies introducing SRI – Tripura, Tamil Nadu
(IAMWARM), Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, HP
• Researchers - ICAR/DRR, WMC, other agencies
• Financial institutions – NABARD, SDTT
• Govt. institutions - NFSM, NRLM, Planning Commission,
NFSM, NRLM, DRD
• Consortium facilitators – NCAP, PRADAN (NRCRL), XIMB,
WASSAN, SRI Secretariat of SDTT

17. Governance
• Secretariat
– To enable NCS to achieve its purpose and objectives it is
envisaged that one of the organisations active in the
Consortium would anchor its Secretariat
– Secretariat a lean-body of full-time professionals anchored by a
host organization for a period of 3 years or so
– Anchorage of Secretariat to rotate over time
– Secretariat is meant to look-after daily functions of NCS and
further NCS ideas with external stakeholders in keeping with its
mission
• Core Group:
– A Core Group consisting of not more than 5 individuals to
provide an intensive oversight and support to Secretariat
– Responsible to nurture engagement of larger network/and
evolve operational agenda for NCS from time to time
– Discourse with the larger network that exist in various media,
periodical interactions, symposia, policy discussions etc., shall
form the basis for Core Group to evolve action agenda for the
NCS

18. Immediate deliverables – next 3 years
• Research
– Review of SRI Research in India, emphasizing on comprehensive clarity on Science of SRI or
how SRI works
– Understanding dis-adoption of SRI
– A concept note on Indigenous Varieties and SRI
• Practice
– SRI resource book and learning modules
– Status of development of SRI machinery and small farmer oriented implements
– Invite members to develop relevant research and development work and other
contemporary issues of SRI to be pursued by NCS
– Documentation of comprehensive compendium of farmers’ experiences, programs, research
publications etc. and development of a website
– As a core mandate, NCS will strive to promote and support state level consortia and enable
active exchange of strategies, experiences and synthesis of lessons across the state
• Policy
– Synthesizing recommendations of various Sub-Groups on SRI for the 12th Five Year Plan
constituted by the Planning Commission and organizing advocacy events on the emerging
strategic framework
– To organize interface meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture, NABARD and other agencies
at national and state levels on appropriate strategic framework for strengthening SRI.

19. Action Plan – Next 1 year
• Strengthening the consortium – setting up Secretariat, building rules
and norms, stabilising membership, setting up web site, e-group
• Specific engagement with the Planning Commission on integrating
lessons from various sub group reports and ensure their
incorporation in the XII Plan
• Working with MoRD /MoA for design of suitable programmes/pilots
• Working with ICAR/IARI/AUs for on and off-station trials on SCI
• Publication of policy brief
• Systematic documentation of important aspects of SCI such as
experiences and methodologies of scale up, to be decided by Core
Group
• Research on specific issues such as dis-sdoption behaviour, impact,
to be decided by Core Group

20. Thank you